Julie Merberg

I had mixed feelings about this book after reading it. I liked the book because it discussed girl powers and I think that it is important to have both male and female superheroes. It also explained that the super heroines had powers such as being “strong and kind” or “smart” and “brave”. These are all great characteristics for girls to have. But, I did not like this book because in a way, it made it seem like in order for girls to have these traits, they had to be super heroines. show more For example, every page includes a new super heroine and listed her powers. The illustrations are of females in costumes/masks, and some pages even express that the girls come from other places like “planet Krypton” or “Atlantis, under the sea”. It makes me question whether normal girls from Earth can have super powers or not. Overall, the message of “Girl Power” is a great theme to relay to children, but the characters are not believable. show less

I have a few of the books in the series.

On the plus side, I really like the concept - picture books introducing famous artists to young children. What could be cooler than that?

Unfortunately, I don't like the writing that much. Prose would be perfectly suited for these pictures, but instead the author keeps trying to write it in rhyme, and it falls very flat. The whole thing seems trite, and a lot of the rhymes and meter end up sounding forced.

I'd still be buying the books, despite this, show more because I like the idea so much, except we've run into a new snag - they're not very well put together. By which I mean that all of the books we have in this series started to fall apart within a year, a year and a half of their purchase. They're board books, and the nieces are actually too old to "need" board books - they're not rough on the books at all. This should not be happening. The shoddy construction *will* keep me from buying more books, where awkward text wouldn't.

If these books ever get printed in paperback, or maybe as a hardcover compilation, I'll probably buy them. But I cannot recommend that anybody buy the board books. show less

This book is excellent until at the very end, they say "for now, just say 'okay, okay'." Kids have the power to say no and to stand up for what isn't fair or just. It seems to take all the amazing stuff from the whole book and say "but not you," creating more and more of a bystander problem.

Illustrations are 90% reproductions of his paintings, so go to them. I am appalled by the nerve of the author to say this about *Starry Night* - "Time for sleep, in the quiet light of a starry night." Um, quiet, nope. He painted it while at asylum for mental illness; it expresses turmoil.