My Never Ending List

I have to laugh when I think about this book. There are many things I like about it but there is one disturbing thing that hung in the air and to me, it’s could be pretty major for little kids. What I liked:

1. Look at bear – doesn’t he make you smile? I am not sure if he really looks like a bear or not but just his stance, the spots on his fur, and the proportion of his body. I am attractive to this beast..
2. The text – the text is big and bold and when each individual animal talks the text changes color on that page. Who doesn’t like that?
3. The language – I reminds me of Dr. Seuss. “Have you seen my hat?” “No, I haven’t seen your hat.” “OK. Thank you anyway.’ –short and sweet and lots of manners.
4. Text vs. picture- one side is text and one side is the accompany picture – easy to follow and read
5. 5.Animals – I like the simple illustrations. Bear kindly asks each animal if they have seen his red pointy hat (snake, fox, bunny, frog, turtle, and mole) and they each carry on a small conversation with him. Exhausted, he rests and talks to deer. He finally realizes he has seen his hat and he rushes back to confront one of the animals.   Bear loves his hat.

There are lessons about life in here and one of them could be disturbing to some children. Watch out for what bear does when he finds his red hat. Older readers will think nothing of it but younger readers might not be ready for it. Perhaps you might want to skip that page or add on an additional ending, there’s too much to like about this book to miss it.