Book Review: The Green Umbrella by Jackie Azua Kramer Illustrated by Maral Sassouni

I saw this cute book on the read now section of *Netgalley and immediately clicked for it! That cover

was just too adorable to pass on!

The Green Umbrella is short picture book featuring an elephant with a green umbrella. The elephant meets a cast of other adorable creatures. Each one thinks that the elephant's green umbrella is theirs and they explain the adventures they have gone on with it.

Ok let me say I LOVED this book! **My son and I took turns reading the pages of this book. It was still on a higher level than he is at but I helped him with the words he struggled with. 

He seemed to enjoy the book and loved the pictures. His favorite was when they  all try to stop Elephant from leaving. Mine was the Bear's flying machine.The illustrations really make this book and Sassouni does an AMAZING job portraying these adorably stylized creatures. The color palate is great and the expressions on each animal really drew my son in. 

The story itself is wonderful. I love that each animal has a different imaginary use for the umbrella. Such the Bears flying machine and Hedgehog's boat. I love that in the end all of the animals become friends and go on adventures. I also love that even though Elephant knows that it is his umbrella he never hesitates to share it with the others so that they can stay dry/out of the sun. Such a great positive message that isn't overt or preachy. Elephant is also vocal in letting them know it is his. So I love that juxtaposition of teaching children to stand up for their things but to always be polite and share.

This is a great book for young children and early readers. I HIGHLY recommend this book not just for the great story and message but for the amazing illustrations. 

5 out of 5 stars!

* I recieved a free copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion

** This book was read with my 8 year old severely learning disabled son. The review reflects also reflects his opinion and how well he did with the book.

Book Review: Reading is for Idjits! by W. W. Rowe

Ok so this was my very first book that I requested from *Netgalley. And my very first review on my blog (whoo-hoo). But that is where the excitement ends. First let me say I am SOOOOOO glad I read this before reading it with my son. This is NOT a book that any child should read. Period. End of story.

The book tells the tale of two twins. One who is smart and always has his head in a book and one who is not. They call the one twin Smarty Marty and the other one Morton the Moron. Morton cannot read properly and constantly gets into trouble till his parents take away all his favorite things till he learns how to read.

As a mother to a special needs child who has multiple learning disabilities I was frankly appalled by this book. Number one to call a child a moron is never something you should do in a book that supposedly has a positive message. The child was made fun for what quite clearly stood out to me as a learning disability. It seemed like he was dyslexic. But instead of getting him help his parents laugh at him then take away everything he loves till he learns to read (boring books with no pictures mind you). Why kind of message is this?!?!?! If anyone called my child a moron because of his inability to read believe you me I would go full on Mama Bear on them. Instead you have a mother who laughs at him for his problems and then punishes him. The child literally almost dies 3 times in this book. But hey lets not do the right thing and get him help lets punish the child who has almost lost his life several times due to the parents being morons...see what I did there cause the parents clearly are the morons here not poor Morton.

I can't believe I almost read this with my son. I honestly was  hoping there was something positive like with hard work and help from professionals  Morton finally overcomes his disability and learns to love reading. BTW a number of children who complain about reading like he was, do it to compensate for the fact that they are having a hard time with it. It frustrates them that they can't be "normal" so they lash out. It is not that they are lazy as this book seems to suggest. Words cannot even begin to express how angry this irresponsible book makes me.

This is 1 out of 5 stars....stay away from it at all costs!

*I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.