Book Review: The Windy Day

The Windy Day by Tony Sandoval

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is far too scary for young children. The goblins and monsters are very unique and I love the art personally; but would not feel comfortable buying this for a small child. Even at age 5 or 6 this might be a bit much. It also relies upon the child understanding that the entire story is a metaphor. None of the goblins, monsters or big black (save the day) dog actually exist. And so the child (and adult) needs to be able to understand that the use of the name of 'courage' is the moment in which the story goes from being fantastical to being a metaphor. This feels wayyy too complex for the average child. I can't imagine any of the children in my life being able to understand that they are meant to imagine a big black dog with them as opposed to actually having that dog by their side to instill courage in them.

I also feel that the beginning diminishes the courage our lead gal has on her own when she chooses to venture into the forest to get to the kite flying open space. It's as though she does that and it means nothing. I'd have preferred for the story to be a bit more focused on what our lead gal manages to do herself. Or perhaps it just needs to be more obvious that her 'courage' comes from within and is projected as a big black dog? Either way I think The Windy Day misses the boat by being too advanced for little children; and yet too simplistic for older ones. Tony Sandoval should take his creepy (and awesome!) artwork style and create a book for the middle grade age with illustrations. That would likely fit his style better and he'd be able to make it 'scary' without causing a number of small kids to not sleep.

Overall I'd pass on this one for anyone under 5 or 6 year of age; and I don't tend to buy picture books for older kids, and so I can't find a market for The Windy Day.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

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