Monday, April 22, 2019

Book Review: The Island

My IslandMy Island by Stéphanie Demasse-Pottier

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

There is no real story here. This children's illustrated book is really just a description of a child's imaginary world. The little girl describing her special place calls it an island; yet the second page drawing shows her inside a snow globe on her 'island'.

The illustrations are vibrant and fun with lots of yellows, fluorescent green and bright reds. Each page has text describing what the illustrations are showing. One about music, another about sharing; but all of it lacks a cohesive reason. And while we are invited to her island to play it is never clear the why or how. Maybe this wouldn't matter to a child. Maybe they only need to have a stepping stone to imagining their own island. For me I need more than that. A little bit of context or actual story is needed.

I personally wouldn't purchase this book as it lacks any real message or meaning to me. The best I can infer from it is that it's about promoting imagination; but that's just not enough. I can't see too many children wanting this one read to them over and over again as there just isn't enough content here to be excited about.

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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1 comment:

Leonore Winterer said...

I think it was Astrid Lindgren who said that children's books don't need to have a 'lesson' to go with them - they don't need to educate, it's enough to just entertain. But her stories were full of strong individuals going on wonderous adventures and just overall a lot of fun - you could certainly not complain about nothing happening there! Maybe this author misunderstood, but I certainly think a child won't enjoy a book without a story very much!