Ivy Court Press
ISBN: 978-0983607823
Published march 1, 2012
Hardcover (10 X 12), 32 pages
Zage's wacky, rhyming text and Watkin's
comical caricature illustrations combine to make this a funny and
unique book. Zage portrays himself as a fourth grade boy who dreams
big when the teacher asks the class to answer the question, “What I
want to be.” From an astronaut to a chef, singer, lawyer and a slew
of other professions, Zage imagines himself in these prestigious
positions, but is quickly put down because he's told he doesn't have
the skills to do any of those things. Until his mom tells him it's
okay to dream big.
We liked the message this story
conveyed, and we liked the references to people, landmarks,
expressions, and places that were further defined and explained using
the glossary included in the back of the book. Both my hubby and I
read this book to my eight-year-old son on different occasions and
felt it was culturally rich, allowing us to talk about art,
architecture, astronomy, music and the different professions out
there. The author used puns, tongue-in-cheek humour and the
illustrations to show how vivid his young imagination was and, equally, how quickly one's dreams can be shot down.
My son liked the illustrations and
reading the book with us. It led to discussions of what one can be when they grow up.I think it would be difficult for him to
understand all the text on his own because of all the references, but it seems to
me the author intended this to be a book for parents to share with
their youngsters. It certainly is an inspiring book that will allow
parents to get a glimpse into how big their own kids can dream and
encourage them to do so. Oh, and I just have to say, that the cover
with it's multiple stars against a mauve to purple-black ink sky is
just fabulous!
Note: This book is rated C = clean read.
Reviewed by Laura and son
Disclosure: Thanks to the publisher for sending me this book for review. I was not compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review this product.
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