27. XO, OX: A Love Story

27. XO, OX: A Love Story by Adam Rex. Illustrated by Scott Campbell

Back when I worked as the youth manager at a public library, I was in charge of purchasing for the entire collection. During my collection development, I found a lot of negative feedback of this title. More recently, during a trip to a local library, I saw it on the shelf, and absolutely had to give it a read through. Personally, I didn't find it creepy (we'll get into that in a minute), I found it rather sweet.

Ox is a well-meaning buffoon who is in love with Gazelle, a classy sophisticate. He writes her letters expressing his love to her, but she responds with a form letter. He doesn't get it, and writes her again. When she sends the exact same form letter, Ox finds it hilarious. He closes out his next letter with, "I hope that what I wrote before did not cause you to think that I love you because you are pretty -- I also love you because you are smart." Which I love.

She gets the picture and starts writing him personally, though all of her letters conclude with something along the lines of, "I will not be writing you again! Please stop writing me!!"

Endpapers.

Ox does not get the picture. He continues writing even though Gazelle constantly insults him and puts him down. Eventually she gets so fed up she rips up his picture, only to realize how much of a companion he was, and a sweet soul. The book ends with her writing a new letter to Ox with doey eyes.

Now, a lot of the negative criticism has to do with Ox's relentless attempts to woo Gazelle, even though it's clear she's not interested. But if she really wasn't interested, wouldn't she just ignore Ox? Wouldn't she stop writing for real? Wouldn't she get a restraining order?! Clearly she's intrigued enough to keep writing. I definitely do not see Ox as a creep. He does nothing but compliment and admire. But I totally get why you'd be offput by this story. Ox doesn't quite understand that "no means no." He loves her without knowing anything about her personally. He's clearly obsessed with someone who puts him down and can be seen as mentally abusive. And she just gives in and falls for him the moment he stops giving her attention. I can see where this book is problematic... and I can understand how this is a good book to start a conversation with your kid, but it's a picture book meant for children... I try not to take them too seriously.

Overall, I really enjoyed XO, Ox. I thought it was super cute and I absolutely love the watercolor illustrations, though the endpapers are probably my favorite. I will admit, I did not read this to my daughter because a) it's too long, b) it's not interesting to a baby, and c) I do not trust her to not rip or chew on picture books. We respect library books in our house! Recommended for older kids, 4+.

18. Farley Farts

18. Farley Farts by Birte Muller

This is a really terrible book. I found it at Goodwill, and I'm usually drawn to the weird and gross things in life. So when I saw the word fart in the title, I didn't hesitate. Not one bit. Unfortunately, the only good think about this book is the illustrations. I love the coloring and the character design is pretty amazing. I love the frogs blank expression and his little fingers. This book was originally published in Switzerland under the title Fritz Frosch. I wish they kept the name Fritz, it's great. The direct English translation is actually Fritz Frog. I wonder why there is no mention of farting in the original title... Maybe us silly Americans would be more drawn to it if "fart" was in the title... which is exactly why I even picked it up... touche.

Farley Farts is a story about a frog who cannot control his farts. He farts at home, he farts in the pond ("It was like a Jacuzzi!"), he farts for the doctor, he farts at school. His mother tells him to hold his farts in overnight, which causes him to blow up like a balloon (you know, because he's filled with gas) and floats away. His dad yells at him from the ground to, "Fart, Farley, just as loud as you can!" He does, and he "flipped and fluttered and floated" down to the ground. They celebrated his homecoming by eating, what? BEAN SOUP. No wonder he farts so much...

Now, this is an amusing tale. Jenny loves blowing raspberries with her tongue lately, so she laughs whenever we need to make Farley fart. I love the texture of the illustrations, and the use of color is beautiful. All of the frogs in this story have a creepy stare, like their mouths are sewn shut and their eyelids are glued open... which I find to be hilarious. But I have a few issues with the story.

1. Who takes their kid to the doctor because he's just farting a lot? Try not feeding him bean soup all the time, and maybe he'll stop! The mom is an idiot.
2. Joey McIntyre came out with his 2nd solo album in 2001. This book was published in 2003. Clearly the author ripped off his song, "We Don't Wanna Come Down," because we have a very, very similar line. Lyric: From so far away the world can look so beautiful. Narrative: From way up high, the world below looked so beautiful. THIS IS A CONSPIRACY.
3. Once Farley hits the ground, the line in the book says he landed on his back. Clearly, he is illustrated as landing on his belly.

I will keep this book in my collection, simply because Jenny loves blowing raspberries. You can do a farting book well (i.e. Toot by Leslie Patricelli or Walter the Farting Dog by William Kotzwinkle), but this isn't one of them.

17. You DON'T want a Unicorn!

17. You DON'T want a Unicorn! by Ame Dyckman. Illustrated by Liz Climo.

If you've been on the Internet for longer than 15 minutes you've probably seen a Liz Climo comic. You know, they're super cute and relateable, usually animal characters. Do a Google search, you won't be disappointed. So when I saw she illustrated this picture book, it didn't matter what it was about, I wanted to check it out!

You DON'T want a Unicorn! is a cautionary tale about how, well, you wouldn't want a unicorn. Definitely WAY out of Jenny's league, in terms of books she would be interested in at this age. But I quite enjoyed it. The narration is as if someone is speaking (or yelling, at times) to the main character, a little boy who dons a shirt that says, "I <3 Unicorns." This would be a really fun book to act out and perform.

The narrator warns the little boy not to wish for a unicorn, but he doesn't listen. A pretty cool looking unicorn appears, and quickly demonstrates why you wouldn't want to live with one. They shed, they scratch, and they poop cupcakes. They jump, they chew, and they burp rainbows. They also live in groups... which means you'll need to wish for MORE unicorns, which ultimately means they'll have a unicorn party, which will eventually drive you insane. The little boy wishes them all away, but not before wishing for a new mythical creature to hang out with...

I really think this book would go over very well with the older crowd, kindergarten and up. Any book that even mentions poop (even if its in cupcake form) or barf (even if its rainbows) will appeal to the boys, and unicorns almost always appeal to the girls. There is anarchy and there are unicorns in sunglasses and leg-warmers. What more could you want?

Goodwill Book Haul #1

Goodwill is dangerous.

99 cents for children's books. And I love it because it's always a mystery as to what will be on the shelf. I will, from now on, only buy books for Jenny 2nd hand. Library book sales, Goodwill stores, thrift shops, garage sales, you name it! I got 9 books for under $9.

1. Curious George at the Parade by Margret & H.A. Rey
2. Curious George's Dream by Margret & H.A. Rey
3. Curious George Goes to a Movie by Margret & H.A. Rey
4. Curious George in the Snow by Margret & H.A. Rey
5. Curious George goes to a Chocolate Factory by Margret & H.A. Rey

All 5 Curious George books don't even feel or look like they've been opened. Even the binding cracked when I looked inside of them. I'm particularly excited for #5 because that's where I met my husband, at a chocolate store.

6. You are my Cupcake by Joyce Wan

I've seen this one at Target many times, and I've always been sooooo tempted. It's probably the cutest book ever. But I'll wait to tell you why.

7. The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka. Illustrated by Lane Smith
8. Llama Llama Misses Mama by Anna Dewdney
9. How do Dinosaurs say I Love You by Jane Yolen. Illustrated by Mark Teague

So I'm pretty excited to add these to Jenny's bookshelf. Really good, solid book choices!