A Perfect Day by Lane Smith
| A Perfect Day by Lane Smith | |
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| Category: For Sharing | |
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Reviewer: Ruth Ng
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| Summary: Oh dear, here is a bear who is not very nice, and just when everyone is having the perfect day, he lumbers in to spoil everything! | |
| Buy? yes | Borrow? yes |
| Pages: 32 | Date: February 2017 |
| Publisher: Two Hoots | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 9781509840557 | |
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It's a lovely sunny day, and looks as if it may just turn out to be a perfect day, since there is a sunny spot for cat in the flowers, and a paddling pool for dog to cool off in, and bird food in the bird feeder, and a corn cob for squirrel. But, what's this? Here comes bear, lumbering into the garden to eat the corn cob, splash in the water and squash all the flowers!
This is a very simple story, with a clever repetition trick. As we are introduced to each animal, and why their day is perfect, we are told for example it was a perfect day for cat. But as Bear arrives to ruin everything, the phrase is repeated, but this time with the emphasis on the word was! I thought this was the cleverest part of the book. The plot is easy to follow, and even very little children will be understand the idea of things that make you happy, and then having those things ruined!
The issue I have with it is Bear himself. He comes across as something of a bully, barging in and ruining everyone's fun! I'm certainly aware that this is exactly how a real bear would behave, but somehow in the story the lack of comeuppance felt, to me, like an issue. His upset is fairly predictable, and so it would have been nice to have a twist at the end to flip things back into favour for the other animals somehow. Still, I'm probably overthinking things! There's plenty of mileage in the story as it is for repeated readings for children who just enjoy the havoc bear creates.
Even if the story failed me a little, the illustrations are just lovely. I really like the textured artwork, with my favourite picture being dog, so happy sitting in his little blue paddling pool! They are simply done, but they support the story throughout, so you can clearly see what's going on and the disruption that Bear is causing! You feel like you want to reach out and touch some of the pictures, and even naughty old bear seems rather appealing! Set your moral judgements aside, and just enjoy the beautiful art of this quick and simple story.
Further reading suggestion: For another naughty Bear, you might enjoy reading I Am Bear by Ben Bailey Smith and Sav Akyuz and if this still doesn't sate your naughty animals craving, take a look at the very funny book The Slightly Annoying Elephant by David Walliams and Tony Ross. Lane Smith also illustrated Lulu and the Brontosaurus by Judith Viorst.
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You can read more book reviews or buy A Perfect Day by Lane Smith at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy A Perfect Day by Lane Smith at Amazon.com.
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