I'm Not Millie!

by Mark Pett

Someone is causing a lot of trouble during and after supper, but Millie is certainly not the guilty one.

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

40 pages, Hardcover

Published November 26, 2019

Reviews

[Laura]

Is Millie trying to get away with not eating her supper or taking a bath? Nooo, not Millie!

Every single page holds big, colorful illustrations with lots of different animals to talk about—birds, bats, kangaroos, and more. We get surprise guests galore. And even a bubble gum ice cream sighting! :)

A fun read that’s sure to make kids giggle.

[Sarah BT]

A very simple and funny picture book about animals and imagination. I can't wait to use this one for storytime.

[Kris]

A cute little picture book that is perfect for a read-aloud setting!

[Barbara]

Created with India ink and watercolor, the illustrations and the text in this picture book will bring a smile to the lips of readers even if they are older than the book's intended audience. After all, many adults will recall the experience of dealing with a child who is more interested in playing with food rather than eating it or won't get ready for bed. Each time, when the adult corrects Millie, she claims that there must be a mistake and that there is no Millie around. The use of word balloons makes the story easy to follow and the larger font size for the adult speaker on the left-hand side of each page allows readers to distinguish speakers. The depiction of various animals who aren't Millie makes the story work well, and the ending, clearly devised by someone with plenty of experience in parenting or working with children, is perfect. Bubble-gum ice cream or something similar is always likely to do the trick when looking for someone like Millie.

[Lynn]

Millie denies her own existence every time her parent tries to tweak her behavior, whether eating at the table, playing in the house, or getting ready for bed.
Each spread has a speech bubble on the left showing the adult’s words (the adult is never shown, allowing for various interpretations). The opposing page shows an animal matched with a characteristic: a dawdling child could be a tortoise, a splashing (in the tub) child could be a dolphin. Each animal declares in some variation of “I’m not Millie!”. Large simple font is easy to read.
The animals are drawn in realistic style. Each background shows just enough detail to identify the room in which the action is taking place.
The text, all dialogue between parent and child, builds to a very satisfying ending as Millie finally reveals her true self when tempted by bubble gum ice cream.
Preschoolers will see themselves trying to evade the inevitable bedtime.

[Kelsey]

Age: Preschool

From supper to bath time to pajamas, a little girl's actions mirror the wild behavior of a variety of animals. She eats corn like a beaver, jumps like a kangaroo, and splashes like a dolphin. While pretending to be these animals, Millie simultaneously denies her namesake to avoid responsibility.

Parents will smirk and nod along to Millie's innocent antics. The ending provides a common parental tactic to get our little wildlings under control. The potential for multiple readings make this good for a bedtime book.

[Read Ribbet]

Told entirely with talking bubbles which might make it a good mentor text to teach that feature, I'm Not Millie is a story of one small girl's resistance to do what she needs to do to finish dinner and get ready for bed. Each suggestion is met with an animal saying "I'm not Millie" A good story to read in two voices or repeating the choral line with different animal voices. Fun story for home of school.

[Helen]

Illustrations aren’t out of the ordinary, but the text knocks it out of the park. Millie, like Willems’ pigeon, has a snappy excuse for not doing what she doesn’t want to do—each time, it’s not her, it’s a different animal. You the adult makes the request as a read aloud, listeners can respond as loudly as possible

[Melanie Hetrick]

It's dinnertime in Millie's household and yet she isn't there. bird is eating her green beans, a beaver her corn, and an alligator spills her milk. The parent has to ask the bat to tell Millie that her ice crea is ready once she puts her pj's on. All of a sudden Millie appears.

Children will get a kick out of the relatable "I'm not Millie" refrain.

[Andrea Librarian]

I like the idea of this book, but wish it was executed a little better. It reminds me of Hi Pizza Man but less successful. The child gets into mischief and pretends to be a different animal when she's caught. The dialogue is fine, but there's no real explanation of why all these animals are saying they're not Millie so it could be confusing for young readers.

[Jessica]

I'm not sure what I was expecting with a koala on the cover talking, but it wasn't this. A girl is getting reprimanded throughout the entirety of the book, but she keeps pretending to be different animals. I'm really, really not a fan of kids getting away with being disrespectful and disobedient. I liked the animals, but that was about it.

[Panda Incognito]

The amusing concept of a child avoiding correction by pretending to be different animals wore very thin over the course of this picture book, and I wasn't impressed with Millie receiving a reward at the end despite her bad behavior.

[Melanie Borski-Howard]

This is cute, but I was shocked when I read it for storytime and no one had a clue what was going on other than the parents. I wish mark Pett would have shown Millie at the beggining, but he didn't so I do and it helps a little.

CLEL- could be TALK and PLAY

[Betsey Stahler]

Millie imagines herself to be something other than what she is whenever she is asked to do something she doesn't want to. So, what will happen when she is offered ice cream??

[Doria]

Terrific fun to read this book at my weekly Story Hour, the kids and I loved it! The illustrations are excellent, the premise is funny and clever, and the denouement is satisfying. Good times!

[Edward Sullivan]

Whoever or whatever is causing lots of trouble after supper is definitely not Millie.

[Elisabeth]

Fun! Great for storytime!

[Kathryn]

Not my favorite

[Alyssa Mandell]

It wasn't my favorite.

[Grab]

precious and reminds me of putting my cousins to bed and their impressive and imaginative avoidance techniques

[Erin]

A cute book that every parent will find relateable.

[Amanda]

Parents will relate to this maybe more than children will; will kids grasp the concept without someone explaining it to them? The pictures are funny.

[Brian]

Cute ending, unfortunately the concept is lacking throughout. More for parents than children.

[Anthony]

A humorous look at behavior when questionable events occur in a household, and when it's addressed, whomever is the culprit, it's certainly not Millie.

[Danica Midlil]

Cute but simple.

[Patricia N. McLaughlin]

Imaginative avoidance behaviors depicted with well-rendered doppelgängers of Millie.

[Melissa]

Some kids...

[Brittany]

If I didn't know better I would swear that this book was written about my daughter.

[Lucca]

This was so funny! We loved it.

[Gayle]

FABULOUS BOOK! Imaginative .. the best. Great fun to read!