Tuesday, June 16, 2015

New Book Alert: Bubbles: Big Stink in Frog Pond


Title: Bubbles: Big Stink in Frog Pond  | Author: Ben Woodard | Illustrator: Fran Riddell | Publication Date: June 15, 2015 | Publisher: Miller-Martin Press | Pages: 32 | Recommended Ages: 3 to 7

Summary: As your delighted child may guess from the books title, Bubbles has a problem ... of the bubble-creating variety. When his odorific bubbles prove to be too much for the rest of the frogs, Bubbles is banished to a far area of the pond. Only in their time of need do his friends discover that his 'talent' has its uses.

Review: Young children will find delight in the 'naughty' aspect of this story (farts that bubble!), and there is an effort to deliver a lesson with the ending. In general, I felt that the story was a bit too straight-forward and predictable, even as it is geared towards younger kids. Other than the novelty of finding a story about the saving power of farts, I am not sure that kids will be drawn in as a story worth rereading.

I also had a bit of confusion with the artwork. As is common in picture books, the compositions varied between one-page and two-page spreads, but in some places it was difficult to tell which was which. Some two-page illustrations also lost important details in the gutter (in the print edition).

Overall, I would say that this was a cute and humorous story, but it could have been more. I would recommend this book for younger kids, in the 3-5 year-old range. Older kids will likely find the farts funny but get nothing more out of it.

(ARC provided by the author via Mother Daughter Book Reviews. All thoughts are my own.)

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