Bad Seed

Bad Seed

Author: Jory John

Illustrator: Pete Oswald

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 40

Language: English

ISBN-10: 006246776X
ISBN-13: 978-0062467768

Date: 2017

Publisher: Harper Collins

Price: $11.73 (as of the time of this post)

Where to buy: Amazon

I believe in redemption. 

I think that it's too easy to judge people harshly over a long period of time based on a bad choice or two in the past. 

People can change, so can seeds evidently.

After a recent issue in my own offline life, where a chance at redemption was offered to a student that I work with, I walked into the library at my school this afternoon and see this book on the shelf...staring at me.

This is a wonderful book with a message that every child needs to hear.

You can do "bad" things but can still turn it around and become a better, if only slightly less "bad", person. If you can do that, who knows what you can become if you put in some effort.

We have the story of a sunflower seed gone "bad". It used to be good but outside forces and circumstances caused a shift of some kind, and like Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader,  he/she turns to the dark side.

Is there redemption for this unfortunate little seed? 

Yes, perhaps not total redemption, but a glimmer of hope for the future.

It is a message that every child should hear and the words by Mr. John and illustrations by Mr. Oswald make it a story that every child can access and connect with I think if given the chance. 

Hey, it moved me enough to write a post about it, my first in a long time.

Content: 5/5
Illustrations: 5/5
Concept: 5/5
Quality: 5/5
Price: 5/5

The Book of Monsters: A Bedtime Story

The Book of Monsters: A Bedtime Story
by: Jamie Melani Marshall
Illustrated by: the author
Paperback: 48 pages
Publisher: Jamie Melani Marshall
Language: English
ISBN: 0-9782-1090-5
Product Dimensions: 8.5" x 8.50", perfect binding, full-color interior ink
Price: (without shipping) $18.00 USD as of the date of this posting
Where to buy: Lulu.com (http://www.lululcom/jamiemelanimarshall)

Jamie Melani Marshall has created a brilliantly colorful book about monsters in the Maurice Sendak tradition. The text is delightful and the story so packed with messages about unplaced fears, why we need rules and tapping into your inner strength that it should find a home in libraries everywhere.

Marshall, who is a talented artist, uses those skills to great effect page after richly dark but colorful page.

If I have any concerns about this book they are only that it may proove to scary for young ones at bedtime the first read. So read it in the morning or at lunch the first time.

Good fun.

Message:
[Parents] Maybe not for really young kids and maybe read it at lunchtime first.
[Kids] See, we have rules for a reason and don't be afraid until you have reason to be.

Content: 4/5
Illustrations: 5/5
Concept: 5/5
Quality: 5/5
Price: 4/5