Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

That was last night, folks–and believe me, after three nights WITH vomit, it feels like something to celebrate.  Not to mention that we no longer have to wait and wonder if any of the kids will escape, because none of them did, BUT they all seem to be on the mend.  Wahoo!

In the meantime, I read Judith Viorst’s Lulu and the Brontosaurus last week, and I’ve been trying to decide how to review it.  It had a delightfully funny tone, and the story was humorous as well; very Roald Dahl-esque.  Lulu is a spoiled brat of a child who marches off to find a brontosaurus for a pet, since her parents won’t agree to give her one for her birthday.  (They’ve always given in to her tantrums before.)  She ends up finding more than she bargains for and becoming a less objectionable child in the process, which (again) makes for a fun story; I think my issue with the book as a whole is how very brief it is.  A 113-page book doesn’t have to have amazing depth (although it can, depending on the author), but it ought to be noticeably more fleshed out than a picture book.  Lulu has so many illustrations and so little text that it really just wants to be a long picture book.  That would have been fine if I’d known that beforehand, but it’s no longer suitable for the child I was thinking might enjoy it; it would have been a better fit a year ago.  This is going to be a good series for kids just getting ready to graduate from the “I Can Read” books, especially girls who aren’t into super-girly.  (It would also be a fun read-aloud.)  Right now, it’s not a good match for any of my kiddos–but I may revisit it in a year or two!