Rating: 
Summary: a great gift for teens
Review: "Squids" is hystarical. I am purchasing a copy for any of my teen nieces and nephews that have a sense of humor. Along with the book will be a note telling them that most of life's big lessons are within the pages. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: A pleasure to read to my children, clever and artistic.
Review: Actually, I loved this book as much as the children. The morals are so modern, and yet timeless. My favorite--never say "I don't know" to an irate grasshopper mother.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful, funny, easy for children to read and understand
Review: At our house, I eagerly anticipate any new book from Jon Scieszka (We have all of his books). I jumped at the announcement of this book and immediately placed my order. After receipt, my eight year old son and I sat down to read together. From the first page, my son was reading and laughing with each story. The stories are brief yet extremely clever. Each story concludes with a "moral". Parents can utilize these stories and "morals" to explain to our kids how these stories are actually real-life experiences and situations in disguise. This book offers parents a non-threatening tool with which to teach kids how to deal with and hopefully understand social relationships. Aside from all of the above, this book is just a lot of fun to read and view. The art work is on par with or exceeds "The Stinky Cheese Man" and "The Book that Jack Wrote" - simply terrific. This is a wonderful book for both children and adults. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: The Epitome of Stupidity - but that's a good thing!
Review: Hey, that rhymed, didn't it? Oh, yes, about the book - it's one of the greatest I've ever read! The authors are true geniuses of stupidity. That may sound contradictory, but it's not. These 2 men have a certain knack for making up tales (and pictures) so timeless and yet so meaningless that they transcend into a higher art form.I don't really think you can get actual morals out of the stories (except for maybe "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day"). Of course, that might have ruined the book's delightful insanity entirely. As it stands, "Squids Will Be Squids" stands as one of the most hilarious experiences I have ever experienced. The Anonymous Pometry Guy
Rating: 
Summary: It is hard to rate this book because....
Review: I am thinking of it from an adult point of view. I rate it 4 stars because it is quite funny and I got a lot of laughs from it, so did my 19 yr. old daughter. I don't think my 10 yr. old really got the humor as my 19 yr. old and I were discussing it. I must say that I don't generally like the books put out by these 2 men. I think the whole overall effect/attitude of the prose too much on the adult level. I would not give this book or any of their other books to any young child for a gift, for the reason stated above and also because the artwork tends to have a weird/shattered look that tends to be quite disturbing to me, and if it disturbs me, then I am sure it would be much more disturbing to children. However, today's children tend to be more worldly and adult-society-conscience (meaning they are more often than not, little adults, never having really been children), and so maybe these books are appealing to most children. But my children are not bombarded by the media or much of society (we own no tv, do not listen to radio, we home educate), and so this book is not suited for the innocence that children of this sort have. I am not cutting down this book...as I said,for an adult or older teen it is quite funny. I just would not recommend it to someone younger than say 13.
Rating:
Summary: Everyone with kids should buy this book
Review: I came across this book while browsing at random. The artwork alone is enough to recommend it, but the stories are absolutely hillarious. My favorite is the one about the grasshopper who waited until the last minute to start his homework. Some people may think this book is a bit too "mature" for young kids. I don't agree. Even kids who don't understand all the nuances will like it (if only for the pictures). And the grown-ups reading it to their kids won't get bored. If you have kids, or need to buy a present for a youngster you know make it this book.
Rating:
Summary: An adult addicted to Scieszka
Review: I enjoyed reading The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, but I was rather disappointed with Squids Will Be Squids. Because of my initial reading experience, I think I had different expectations about reading Scieszka. I was highly disappointed with this book. I didn't find the fables amusing at all; in fact, the book didn't catch my attention and I put it down on several occasions before finally finishing it. I think one of my biggest problems with the fables is that they come across as too preachy rather than subtle. I know they are meant to mimic Aesop, who included the moral after each tale, but the way the morals are presented in the book it seems as if the author is taking a know-it-all or superior tone, which comes across as condescending. Rather than feeling that the morals teach something, I feel as if the morals are more annoying than anything. One particularly annoying tale is the story entitled "Gee, I Wonder." On the next two pages the moral is printed in very large letters reading "Think About It," as if the reader is so ignorant that he or she needs the moral to be printed in type large enough to fill two entire pages. Some of these fables seem like they would be rather abstract for young children. It seems that, in writing this book, Scieszka has shifted to an older audience. Scieszka also devotes half a page of his "Piece of Toast" fable to the overly detailed contents of a box of cereal. I felt that like the list of cereal ingredients (BHT and red #40 included), many of the stories seemed like page fillers; the main asset of this book is the artwork by Lane Smith.
Rating: 
Summary: The Worst Scieszka Book Ever
Review: I enjoyed reading The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, but I was rather disappointed with Squids Will Be Squids. Because of my initial reading experience, I think I had different expectations about reading Scieszka. I was highly disappointed with this book. I didn't find the fables amusing at all; in fact, the book didn't catch my attention and I put it down on several occasions before finally finishing it. I think one of my biggest problems with the fables is that they come across as too preachy rather than subtle. I know they are meant to mimic Aesop, who included the moral after each tale, but the way the morals are presented in the book it seems as if the author is taking a know-it-all or superior tone, which comes across as condescending. Rather than feeling that the morals teach something, I feel as if the morals are more annoying than anything. One particularly annoying tale is the story entitled "Gee, I Wonder." On the next two pages the moral is printed in very large letters reading "Think About It," as if the reader is so ignorant that he or she needs the moral to be printed in type large enough to fill two entire pages. Some of these fables seem like they would be rather abstract for young children. It seems that, in writing this book, Scieszka has shifted to an older audience. Scieszka also devotes half a page of his "Piece of Toast" fable to the overly detailed contents of a box of cereal. I felt that like the list of cereal ingredients (BHT and red #40 included), many of the stories seemed like page fillers; the main asset of this book is the artwork by Lane Smith.
Rating:
Summary: Squid & Slug - just misunderstood
Review: I got this book for my son who is 9...over the 4-8 age reccommendation for this book. I knew it would be funny and he would enjoy it...and boy did he! The book has "boy appeal"... and general "ha-ha-ho-ho's" abound. We read it the first time for laughs...we will read it again and I will encourage him to see if there is anything "deeper" in the stories.... He really enjoyed the pictures alot. He is at the age when at school he is only allowed to read "chapter" books so this was a wonderful break and fun return back to picture books. Although some of the stories did have meaning to them...Some were just fun and all the pictures were wonderful. I enjoy allowing my son to read some things for the pure pleasure and pure fun of reading...this is a perfect choice for that.
Rating:
Summary: WONDERFUL!
Review: I got this book for my son who is 9...over the 4-8 age reccommendation for this book. I knew it would be funny and he would enjoy it...and boy did he! The book has "boy appeal"... and general "ha-ha-ho-ho's" abound. We read it the first time for laughs...we will read it again and I will encourage him to see if there is anything "deeper" in the stories.... He really enjoyed the pictures alot. He is at the age when at school he is only allowed to read "chapter" books so this was a wonderful break and fun return back to picture books. Although some of the stories did have meaning to them...Some were just fun and all the pictures were wonderful. I enjoy allowing my son to read some things for the pure pleasure and pure fun of reading...this is a perfect choice for that.
|
