3 out of 4 stars
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Mubassa’s Dream & 18 Legends from the Land of Nod by John Satchmo Mannan is a unique set of children’s short stories. This collection of stories is a great tool to teach kids various important values like respect, love, and acceptance. What makes this book unique is that it is not only enjoyable for children, but it is also something that parents will take delight in. Throughout the novel there are certain jokes and puns that only adults will understand which makes reading all the more fun because there is something in it for everyone. The author even states that these stories are aimed at anyone from age 8 to 88.
I gave this book 3 out of 4 stars. The author is a well-educated man who has been a university professor for over 30 years and it truly shows in his writing. In between certain short stories and at the end of the novel, the author writes his own philosophical musings and includes a set of poems that are aimed at older audiences, those were by far my favorite part of the book.
The short stories themselves are fun to read, with animals being the main characters for the majority of the parables. There are illustrations at the beginning of almost all of the stories, they are bright and fun with bold colors and lots to look at for kids. The tales vary in length, some are only a few pages long while others are much longer. For certain parables, the author introduces the story by a poem. Some of the lessons learned by the characters are very clear to understand while other times I had to do a bit of thinking to understand what the lesson was supposed to be.
The one thing I was surprised at, but appreciated about this novel is that the theme of God is prominent in most of the tales. While I understand this might deter those who are not religious, I thought it was nice and actually kind of brave for the author to make sure his stories also taught kids to believe and trust in God. I for one, have never read a children’s book that mentioned any type of religion so it was refreshing for me.
The only complaint I have about this book is the editing. There were multiple instances of periods being used where they should not be, misspelled words, and sometimes more than one exclamation point was used which I found a bit redundant and unprofessional.
Overall, Mubassa’s Dream & 18 Legends from the Land of Nod by John Satchmo Mannan is a great, fun book of parables that I would recommend to anyone who has a kid in their lives. It is a treat to read for both children and adults.
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Mubassa's Dream & 18 Legends from the Land of Nod
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