Bob Shea

Goat is wildly jealous of Unicorn in this picture book from Bob Shea, deeply resentful of being upstaged in almost every arena, from transport—while Goat bicycles to school, Unicorn flies!—to treats—when Goat brings marshmallow squares, Unicorn makes it rain cupcakes! But once he actually speaks to this newcomer, Goat is surprised to discover that Unicorn thinks he is the impressive one, and that there are things that Unicorn is jealous of as well (goat cheese! cloven hooves!). show more Eventually the two become a team, with complementary qualities that make them, well... pretty great.

Published in 2013, Unicorn Thinks He's Pretty Great is the first of two picture book featuring these characters—the second is the 2019 Unicorn Is Maybe Not So Great After All—and offers a humorous look at the common childhood experience of jealousy. I appreciated the pouty, resentful tone of Goat's various declarations about Unicorn, whom he assumes is very self involved, as I think it reflects how a young child might react, if feeling insecure about being outshone by a peer. I also liked the conclusion, which flips the script, highlighting how even those who seem to possess everything might feel insecure about how they measure up to others. That being said, while I liked the story here, and could even appreciate the snappy, melodramatic way it was told, somehow the end product didn't wow me as much as I expected it to, given the fact that so many of my friends seem to love this one. My funny bone (notoriously hard to reach) wasn't tickled, and I found the artwork mostly unappealing. I've enjoyed other Bob Shea titles, and I've also enjoyed other humorous unicorn stories, so I'm not sure why this one left me mostly indifferent. Tastes vary of course, so I'd still recommend this one to young unicorn lovers with a sense of humor, as well as anyone seeking children's stories about jealousy, learning to communicate, and eventually, friendship. show less

So cute, so silly. And with some Bob Shea signature tongue-in-cheek funniness that gives me the actual LOLs. ("Cheddar cannot tell time. Cheddar is guessing.") Won's illustrations amp up the cuteness and I also appreciated the pup's grit in trying different solutions when the first didn't work. (And Miss Polly's gentle guidance.)

Ballet Cat and Sparkle Pony need something to do. They discuss the various crafts and activities they could work on, games they could play but Ballet Cat is of a single mind. At every turn, she finds ways to wiggle out and bring focus back on Ballet.

So ballet is what it will be! When Sparkle Pony appears down in the dumps, he tells her about his Secret Secret and his fear that she will no longer want to be friends if she learns it. The two realize what a special friendship they share as show more they work through this conundrum.

Kids who like the Dinosaur vs. books will quickly gel with this kids book. Readers of the Mo Willems Pigeon books will also jive with this very quickly. At approx 30 pages, with lots of bright colors, it will hold their attention just long enough to put a smile on their faces.


Kiddo Perspective:
In our household, Ballet Cat sounds like a clone of Foofa on Yo Gabba Gabba, Sparkle Pony sounds like Eyore's cousin. It was a ton of fun to read and Bob Shea packed so much personality into these two characters. My son was really into it. He was down for the painted characters and the bright splotchy outside the lines coloring.

Adult Perspective:
My son is not a boy who is afraid of pink or other 'girl things' which is awesome because this book should not be quickly written off as boy or girl centric. It is chock full of cool images and teaches a good lesson about doing what other people want to do rather than always getting your way.

Bob Shea is the author of the Dinosaur vs Bedtime and other great books. This book is no less a hit, it is fun to read and is filled with sarcasm that adults can pick up. My wife and I would have this on our shelves even if we had no kids, as it is so freaking cute.

I think that older kids might be okay with this book in E-format, my son however needs a dead tree copy. I don't know how parents can keep a kids attention when looking at an ipad or other tablet.. Paper baby, that's the ticket.

Highly suggested book, I look forward to putting this in our library and seeing what the rest of this new series will be like.

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This book was provided for review purposes by the publisher. I appreciate this because my children are going to eat me out of house and home. show less

Happily delivering donuts to his camping friends, Reuben the bear is dismayed to discover that someone has wet his pants. Terribly embarrassed, his dismay turns to outrage, as he accuses first one and then the other of his companions of being the one responsible. Remarkably patient, his friends assure him that accidents can happen, but our ursine hero, realizing that the others are not to blame, decides the incident must be the result of defective pants...

Pairing a humorous but sympathetic show more story about a common childhood dilemma - the embarrassment of wetting one's pants - with entertaining artwork, Who Wet My Pants? manages to be both amusing and perceptive. Reading it elicited a chuckle, while also reminding me of how prone I was, as a young child myself, to an excruciating level of embarrassment about certain things, from passing gas to squeaking shoes. I'm not sure how I feel about the fact that Reuben never accepts the obvious fact that he himself is responsible for his wet pants - will it give the impression that it is OK to blame others for one's own actions (however involuntary)? - but perhaps the ending is a realistic look at childhood saving face. Recommended to fans of Bob Shea and Zachariah OHora, and to young children who are embarrassed by the fact that they have wet their own pants. show less