Review: The Bubble

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Title: The Bubble
Author: Brian D. McClure
Illustrator:  Buddy Plumlee
Genre: Children's book for ages 1-100 (reading level 9-12 years)
Publisher: Universal Flag Publishing
Physical Description: 64-page illustrated hardcover
List Price: $14.95
ISBN: 978-1933426051

Synopsis:

Once there was a little boy,
who didn't want anyone to play with any of his toys...

As the little boy grows into a man, he only cares about his many material possessions. He meticulously cares for his things and keeps them only for himself. Because of his selfishness, one by one, the things he cares about most begin to leave his life. Soon he finds himself all alone, trapped inside a bubble.

The Bubble is a delightful story that will help both children and adults remember what truly matters in life.

Three-year-old Esmé's Review  (Mom's questions in bold):

• What is this book about?  It's about a bubble!
• Is it your book?  Yeah, we buyed it.  No, we got a review copy through The Cadence Group. Really, we did! We really buyed that book! 
• Do you like the book?  Yeah, I do!
• What is that letter? (pointing to Mom's notes)  It's a "D."  Is my handwriting bad?  Do you want to write?  Uh uh, it is not writing bad.  OK, you ready to read the book yet?  Yeah!
• What's wrong with the boy?  He wants to be alone.  Now he's not a little boy any more.  He's a man!  He owns lots of things.
• Do you own lots of things?  Yes.  Unicorns and ponies.  Do you let other kids play with them?  Yes.  My friends love unicorns and ponies.  And even me!
• Look how high the man's fence is!  Is 12 feet more than four?  Yeah.  As high as Daddy!  Almost twice as high as Daddy.  Yeah!
• Read it again! 
  

What Mommy Liked:  The story has a great lesson to it - all about sharing rather than hoarding what you have.  It uses the concept of a bubble, and what kid doesn't love bubbles?!  Even though it seemed a little old for Esmé at times, she enjoyed the colorful pictures, the analogies, and the storyline.  And I loved all the vocabulary lesson opportunities: words like meticulous, possessions, trespassing, mantra, exotic.

What Mommy Didn't Like:  There is one typo and a few punctuation issues that threw me off a little, but for the most part I loved the book.  Until the last page.  There is this one little sentence that I skipped over and didn't read:  "You are One with everything there is!"  As a Christian, I think some of my beliefs differ from the author's significantly - his message of interconnection, interjected on that last page, goes beyond the principles of sharing and caring I want to pass on to my daughter.

Thanks to The Cadence Group for organizing the review copy of this book.