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Boo-hoo
1980 The Story Box Read-Together Book Level 1 Emergent -- Boo-hoo (P) Story by June Melser & Joy Cowley / Illustrations by Andrew Reid ***ISBN-13: 9780868670522 ***Pages: 16
16 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1990
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 25, 2021
Short early children’s book found in a little free library. I read it not because I am a wee tot, or because I care for one, but because I am looking to inflate my reading list for 2021 as the year comes to a close.
Plot centers around a child who has an animal but then it causes problems so they trade it for a different animal, and so on. I appreciate the non-traditional shape of the story: It starts fairly positive, then continues to be negative until the depressing final page. No attempt to sugar coat things for the children, which I can appreciate. Too many books for young readers try to depict that anything can be overcome with individual effort, and that’s just not realistic. Yeah, life sometimes just sucks, and is full of hurdles that each feel just so insurmountable there’s no use even trying.
Still, the child does not attempt to actually solve any problems caused by the animals, immediately discarding the troublesome animal in favor of something different. I think this is a real failure. To be frank, this only further perpetuates the culture of disposability endemic to our late capitalistic hellscape!
Also the authors rhyme “horse” with “gorse” which isn’t a common word used in the year I am reading the book (2021) and also I don’t think was common when this book was written because my parents didn’t know the word gorse either. Strong commitment to non-slant rhymes though.
Ultimately, not a bad read. Not the best either. To be fair, I don’t read too many books aimed at children this young, so I’m not the best judge. Kinda wish I had been introduced to the word “gorse” as a wee tot myself.
Plot centers around a child who has an animal but then it causes problems so they trade it for a different animal, and so on. I appreciate the non-traditional shape of the story: It starts fairly positive, then continues to be negative until the depressing final page. No attempt to sugar coat things for the children, which I can appreciate. Too many books for young readers try to depict that anything can be overcome with individual effort, and that’s just not realistic. Yeah, life sometimes just sucks, and is full of hurdles that each feel just so insurmountable there’s no use even trying.
Still, the child does not attempt to actually solve any problems caused by the animals, immediately discarding the troublesome animal in favor of something different. I think this is a real failure. To be frank, this only further perpetuates the culture of disposability endemic to our late capitalistic hellscape!
Also the authors rhyme “horse” with “gorse” which isn’t a common word used in the year I am reading the book (2021) and also I don’t think was common when this book was written because my parents didn’t know the word gorse either. Strong commitment to non-slant rhymes though.
Ultimately, not a bad read. Not the best either. To be fair, I don’t read too many books aimed at children this young, so I’m not the best judge. Kinda wish I had been introduced to the word “gorse” as a wee tot myself.
Displaying 1 of 1 review