Saturday, December 8, 2012

Review - Boot and Shoe

Title: Boot and Shoe
Author and Illustrator: Marla Frazee
Publisher: Beach Lane Books (October 2, 2012)
Format: Hardcover; Pgs 40
Genre: Children’s
Source: Library
Ages: 4 and Up (but I would recommend younger)

I wish I could put my finger on why this book did not appeal to me. Maybe it was the expression “got all up in Boot’s business” or the peeing bonding moment, but all I know is that I did not like this book as much as others.

Boot and Shoe are littermates adopted into the same home, they do everything together with the one exception being that Boot is a back porch kind of dog and Shoe is a front porch kind of dog. Ok, every dog needs there private space – that is until a squirrel appears on the home front.

For no reason, this squirrel upsets the delicate balance of their home life to the point that the dogs cannot find each other. They have never spent any real time apart, and as each searches for the other with no luck the sun sets and the dogs must spend their first night without the other.

As the sun rises, the fateful moment appears when their bladders are tugged and they find their long lost littermate at their favorite spot.

Let’s face it, this is a so-so story with no real message for the reader. I am sure that the simplicityof the storyline and illustrations will appeal to the very young reader, but anyone over the age of four will quickly tire and not want to sit through a third or fourth reading.

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