Who Broke the Vase?

by Jeffrey Turner

A little dog struggles with fibbing in this pitch perfect picture book that simply, humorously, and honestly tells the truth about lying.

Have you ever told a lie? A fib? A whopper? A falsehood? A fabrication?

Well, when a little dog accidentally breaks a vase, he certainly does! He keeps shifting the First he says it was an elephant, but no he meant a mouse. Wait a minute—did he say mouse? Make that a crow, a sheep, a hippo— anyone but him. Will his family discover what really happened?

Jeffrey Turner’s signature style of simple words and strong, vivid graphics resonates with everyone who has ever struggled with admitting the truth!

Genres: Picture Books, Storytime, Childrens, Animals, Humor, Juvenile, Fiction

40 pages, Hardcover

Published April 4, 2017

Reviews

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 1 out of 5]

Turner, Jeffrey Who Broke the Vase? Unpaged. Aladdin, 2017. $17.99. PICTURE BOOK

A little dog keeps changing his story about who broke the vase, from an elephant to a mouse, a crow, a sheep, a baby. When a voice off the page reminds him that they don't have a baby, he changes his story once again to blame a hippo. When he is asked directly if he broke the vase, he owns up to it. Of course, who would believe a baby or any of those other animals had anything to do with it? Having told the truth, he gets to play ball with the bigger dog who then accidentally throws the ball through a window and directly toward another vase. The bigger dog then starts telling a story about a huge grasshopper jumping too high...

The little dog is depicted throughout as a black silhouette with popping round white eyes, as are all the other animals, the baby in a carriage, and the larger dog. The bold primary color of the background changes on each spread and only a few details are added to the pictures, such as the flowers in the white vases, the crow's beak, and the ball that keeps getting away. The last spread is wordless and shows the little dog with his hands turned out to his sides in a shrug. The larger dog, presumably the adult in the story, is now guilty of the same dishonesty he/she was not willing to accept from the little dog. Though the illustrations are cute enough, the hypocrisy of the larger dog is not. I don't think the message of this book makes it one worth spending limited funds on.

EL (K-3) - NO. Reviewer: P. K. Foster, MLS, Teacher-Librarian
http://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2017/...

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations are cute and it starts out good with wild answers by the little dog as to who broke the vase. He only tells the truth after the parent dog directly asks if he broke the vase. Immediately after confessing the little dog asks if "we can go out and play." (There is no consequence whatsoever for breaking the vase or lying.)So the parent dog and little dog start playing ball. Of course we can guess the ball crashes through a window and breaks a vase. But here's the part that totally ruined the story for me. The parent is the one to break the vase this time. He looks to the little dog and says, "A huge grasshopper was playing leapfrog with his friends when he humped too high. . . . "
Now maybe there is a point to be made here about the craziness of making up wild tales, or maybe it's supposed to be a silly book with a funny ending. Either way, it doesn't really work for me.

[orangerful · Rating 2 out of 5]

um, so this started off really cute, big illustrations, and the kid telling a "shaggy dog" story to explain the broken vase, then finally confessing the truth.

But I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. I know it's supposed to be funny that the parent that interrogated him is now also making up a story about the broken window but...didn't we just read a story about why it is easier to tell the truth? Hm. Cannot recommend.

[Emily Lisowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starts off as cute and colorful illustrations that show the dog lying about who broke the vase. What threw me off was that after he had lied there was no consequence, almost making it seem like lying is okay. Although the message is supposed to be about being truthful, I feel like that wasn't really accomplished. Good introduction to a lesson about lying, but may need to follow up with something else afterwards to make the message clear.

[Maggie Mattmiller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Torn between one and two stars on this one. Cute pictures, and while I didn't love the lying, I thought the message would be a great one! Kid learns he should just fess up. Except the ending then could be viewed as silly, or could be viewed as going against the moral of the story! Will kids correct the parent at the end? Or will they think it's silly and fun to tell stories that aren't the truth? I'm not sure!

[patt]

brooooooooooooooooooo
no effin way dude who broke this vase
who broke this vase
seriously guys everyone here at my awesome party
this huge crowd of people that’s definitly here right now
someone broke my grandmas vase
and that’s the last thing she gave to me before she DIED
i swear to all things football and/or skateboarding i will find you
do make me cry these incredibly manly tears

sorry i had to, couldn’t pass up this opportunity XD

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lying: each page and great illustration tells a story of who broke the vase. The consequences aren't really given, just a quick moment of asking "who would believe that?" It is a quick introduction to lying, but you might need something more to show why it is not acceptable.

[Jesse · Rating 2 out of 5]

Huh. A story about a young puppy lying about how a vase was broken. He tells the truth, he and his mom go outside to play, mom breaks another vase and then...lies about it? What exactly is the message here?

[Alyssa Gudenburr · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very funny story about who broke the vase. The story keeps changing with the lies the main character tells. Good for a lesson on telling the truth.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is great! I love the illustrations and how a lie could bring more and more lies. It has a great message. Kids loved interacting with it.

[Tim Kwan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not interesting

For a kid book🤦‍♂️. It needed some rhymes or humor. It was filled with rumor😪. Then it ended with a whimper. It should have raised my temper.

[Susan Foster · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't decide if it discourages or encourages lying... ???

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great illustrations, the rest is just meh.

[Angela]

Unreliable narrator.

[Sara Grochowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love that most of the illustrations are silhouettes!

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guilty pooch tries to pin the blame on other critters before he fesses up.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute. I'm not sure kids would get it in a group setting, but I think they'd enjoy it one-on-one.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A playful look at fibbing.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

The little dog in this book tells lie after lie to cover his tracks after breaking a vase. It appears, however, that the behavior is learned! The illustrations are all done in shadow form on thin, glossy pages.