Tip the Mouse Runs Away
Tip the Mouse Can't Sleep
Brightly illustrated art and a squishy padded cover promised a fun read to me as I dove into these books. But I was soon let down by Ottolenghi's stories about a mischievous young mouse and his adventures in misbehaving. The artist's cartoony illustrations are bright and cheerful but don't do much to kick these books up a notch, which they desperately need.
The first book, "Tip Can't Sleep," is a bland story of Tip, his teddy bear and being afraid of the dark. The old formula of "trouble sleeping - Mom has some story about stars watching over us - everything is fine" had nothing original to offer or keep my attention.
Moving past "Can't Sleep's" blandness, "Tip Runs Away" actually appalled me with the young mouse's constant rudeness and disregard for his mother, his running away, the parent's failure to chastise or punish him for his rampant brattiness and his failure to learn any sort of lesson or mature in character at the end.
I had to force myself to read these books several times preparing this review. And so here's my "tip:" pass up these books that are merely okay and invest elsewhere in books you are more likely to read again and again out of sheer enjoyment, not duty.
Note: Reviewed by Dawn Mena
Rating: *\
Comments