I wanted to read Revenge of the Raccoons by Vivek Shraya and illustrated by Juliana Neufeld. I clicked on the link I had, and The Many Hats of Louie the Rat by
Sakshi Mangal showed up. But that was just par for today’s course. My day started late, my computer wanted to act up at work, I had to stand in a too long line for lunch only to have the food gone bad. I needed something good and fast.
Now, The Many Hats of Louise the Rat was not good, but it was not bad. It was comfortable. The idea of a rat making useful items out of not-useful things was intriguing. Okay, so they did not always work, and people did not appreciate them, but still, it was a clever idea. And then one day Louie sees something out his window. It is a hat. But not just any hat. It is a not so useful hat. But nobody cares, they love the not so useful hats. But Louie knows how to make a useful hat. Hats that come to find out nobody wants. That is, until they realize how special they are. And Louie will later learn that sometimes not so practical hats can come in handy, too.
I probably will not read it again, but I did like it. It was a solid three. Maybe there is no message in it, but it is just a funny story children can enjoy. The artwork is neither overly clever nor dull. It is in the middle. It is “Oh that is funny. Nice colors.” And “Well that might not be “fleshed out” but that is a good way of representing it.”
My feelings on this book were not helped by the fact that I wanted Rock? Plant? Animal?: How Nature Keeps Us Guessing by Etta Laner and illustrated by Brittany Lane and Time to Go! by Marta Cunill (translated by Susan Ouriou) is in its place. And Time to Go! needs to go. Please. It is about three birds who want to wait out winter. They cannot be bothered to fly south. They try a few things, and finally realize that yes, south is best. Until they get there are realize their time is more than a bit off.
And the art? Oh dear. It is basic, to the point of cutting yourself on the simplistic of the lines. The rounds are round, the colors color but not much is going on with them. However, something tells me there are several people (adults and kids) will get a kick out of the silly ways the birds try and find a way to deal with cold, snow, hunger, and boredom.
Out of some serious “bad editing” came me finding two books that the world will have in August and October.
