Frank Berrios

This 2003 coloring book has a little story about Pooh and his friends starting a garden, but it is more interesting as an artifact of Disney recycling. It has many of the same pictures as the 2006 coloring book I read yesterday, Showers of Flowers, but a different writer has been brought in to write slightly different text under the pictures and over the activity pages. And both of these 32-page books were produced by taking pages from a 48-page coloring book from 2001 called How Does Your show more Garden Grow?. I don't own that one, but I'm ordering a copy of it just to complete the cut-and-paste trilogy.

And I may have ordered a few other Pooh books too, ensuring this project will get stretched out a little bit longer.

(My Pooh Project: I love Winnie the Pooh, and so does my wife. Having a daughter gave us a chance to indoctrinate her into the cult by buying and reading her every Pooh book we came across. How many is that? I’m going to count them this year by reading and reviewing one every day and seeing which month I finally run out. Track my progress here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/23954351-rod-brown?ref=nav_mybooks&she... ) show less

This Little Golden Book introduces young readers to the original Star Trek with a simple narrative that essentially identifies most of the main characters [but not Chekov or Nurse Chapel] and tells about their responsibilities on the Enterprise. The book’s title is misleading in that it is not Captain Kirk’s story; rather, the Star Trek mission is the focus of the narrative.

On the plus side, the illustrations depict many scenes from the original series. The artwork is colorful and many show more reviewers seem to appreciate it, but some fans of the series are likely to find the drawings more closely resemble unflattering caricatures, especially since the characters in the illustrations often look angry. Unfortunately, the artwork is also careless; uniform braid is inconsistent; uniform badges are frequently incorrect. That may seem petty, especially in a book written for toddlers, but the parents who purchase this book are most likely to be devoted fans of the show who will expect the book to have correctly-portrayed illustrations for both the character and the series.

Parents who want to share their love of Star Trek with their young readers may enjoy this opportunity, especially since the narrative itself is true to the spirit of the original series. Future books in the series, however, would benefit with some attention to the artwork. show less

Waffles and Mochi work in a grocery store, where Waffles accidentally breaks the last jar of pickles. Kennedy had wanted that jar of pickles for her birthday party, so she's completely bummed out. Can Waffle and Mochi help save Kennedy's party?

This is a cute story about helping a friend turn their frown upside down. Waffles and Mochi learn about the pickling process and so do the readers as a result, in a simplified way. I love that they pickle more than just cucumbers, too! The end result show more is a happy friend who delights in a homemade gift, which is a nice touch -- showing that the best things don't have to be bought.

These characters are apparently based on a streaming show and perhaps that explains more why there's a yeti-like character and an anthropomorphized Japanese-based dessert who are friends with humans (and have jobs!), but frankly that didn't seem to matter to understand this friendship story. I've read this book with a bunch of kids from preschool through elementary school, and it's been a hit every time despite only a very few children recognizing this as a show they watch.

Illustrations are in an animated style, which makes sense given the series basis. There's lot of green in this title's illustrations, which I assume is due to the pickle theme, but perhaps not. I love the small details, like Kennedy's birthday cake shaped and decorated as a pickle! show less

A simple ode to Tigger, extolling his joyful outlook and general exuberance. It was obviously written without any input from Rabbit.

(My Pooh Project: I love Winnie the Pooh, and so does my wife. Having a daughter gave us a chance to indoctrinate her into the cult by buying and reading her every Pooh book we came across. How many is that? I’m going to count them this year by reading and reviewing one every day and seeing which month I finally run out. Track my progress here:
show more target="_top">https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/23954351-rod-brown?ref=nav_mybooks&she... ) show less