Review
I'm always intrigued by books that provoke strong reactions. It seems that for some this is a beloved and memorable book from childhood. But others have a visceral reaction to its creepiness. Izzy and I generally love creepy books so I thought I'd give it a go. I'm also a big fan of the wordless genre.
Well, we didn't get two pages into this book before my generally pretty brave six year old covered her eyes and begged me to take this book far far away. For whatever reason the skulking blue creature (aka the strawberry snatcher) was just too disturbing for her. In the light of the day she must have been feeling a little braver because she asked to try it again the next day.
Her final conclusion is that the book isn't nearly as upsetting as she originally thought. It's still too early to say if this is a book that may grow on her or one that she'll just want to forget about.
As for me - I thought it was okay. The art is really lovely and impressive in a surreal kind of way. They remind me of another bizarre (and controversial) book - The Rainbow Goblins. In other words I can see how this is the kind of book that could stick with someone and become a favorite. But I'm afraid the adult in me wasn't quite as awed. For wordless books my vote goes to David Wiesner.
Well, we didn't get two pages into this book before my generally pretty brave six year old covered her eyes and begged me to take this book far far away. For whatever reason the skulking blue creature (aka the strawberry snatcher) was just too disturbing for her. In the light of the day she must have been feeling a little braver because she asked to try it again the next day.
Her final conclusion is that the book isn't nearly as upsetting as she originally thought. It's still too early to say if this is a book that may grow on her or one that she'll just want to forget about.
As for me - I thought it was okay. The art is really lovely and impressive in a surreal kind of way. They remind me of another bizarre (and controversial) book - The Rainbow Goblins. In other words I can see how this is the kind of book that could stick with someone and become a favorite. But I'm afraid the adult in me wasn't quite as awed. For wordless books my vote goes to David Wiesner.
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