Official Review: The Barnyard Buddies Meet a Newcomer
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[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Barnyard Buddies Meet a Newcomer" by Julie Penshorn.]
[rbc=3]id392901-125[/rbc]
After the story, there are four sections aimed at the adult. These are a parent and educator guide, conversation starters, activities and definitions. These are all prompts and activities to get the children to immerse themselves in the situation and explore their own feelings and the feelings of others.
The author has tried very hard to reserve judgement on everybody in this story, leaving it up to the child. However, I felt that the even-handedness was taken a little too far. The line, ’if your family had an animal you couldn’t keep anymore, what else could you do besides drop your animal off at the side of the road?’ caused me to erupt in wrath. It appears to imply that abandoning your pet to starve is just one of a number of reasonable options. I sincerely hope that no child would interpret it this way and I also hope that the line has been badly phrased and does not actually constitute advice.
I found this scenario distressing and I wish that the author hadn’t tried so hard to apologise for the people who abandoned Blue. There are extreme situations where people have no choice but to abandon their pets and that these are too extreme for a children’s book. However, in this story the family left in a car and they had time to pack, so my opinion was unequivocal that their behaviour was unforgivable.
The book does redeem itself by suggesting in the activity section that the child is taken to a rehoming centre to see how abandoned animals are cared for. The book also contains the moral that kindness begets kindness which I like very much.
The pictures are lovely, the text is clear and I believe it has been edited by a professional as I didn’t find any errors. Apart from the ’dropping off your animal’ line, I do feel that this is a very valuable book and so I am giving it 3 out of 4 stars.
Moderator's note: The author has removed the line in question from the book. The newer copy will not have this line.
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The Barnyard Buddies Meet a Newcomer
View: on Bookshelves |
After the story, there are four sections aimed at the adult. These are a parent and educator guide, conversation starters, activities and definitions. These are all prompts and activities to get the children to immerse themselves in the situation and explore their own feelings and the feelings of others.
The author has tried very hard to reserve judgement on everybody in this story, leaving it up to the child. However, I felt that the even-handedness was taken a little too far. The line, ’if your family had an animal you couldn’t keep anymore, what else could you do besides drop your animal off at the side of the road?’ caused me to erupt in wrath. It appears to imply that abandoning your pet to starve is just one of a number of reasonable options. I sincerely hope that no child would interpret it this way and I also hope that the line has been badly phrased and does not actually constitute advice.
I found this scenario distressing and I wish that the author hadn’t tried so hard to apologise for the people who abandoned Blue. There are extreme situations where people have no choice but to abandon their pets and that these are too extreme for a children’s book. However, in this story the family left in a car and they had time to pack, so my opinion was unequivocal that their behaviour was unforgivable.
The book does redeem itself by suggesting in the activity section that the child is taken to a rehoming centre to see how abandoned animals are cared for. The book also contains the moral that kindness begets kindness which I like very much.
The pictures are lovely, the text is clear and I believe it has been edited by a professional as I didn’t find any errors. Apart from the ’dropping off your animal’ line, I do feel that this is a very valuable book and so I am giving it 3 out of 4 stars.
Moderator's note: The author has removed the line in question from the book. The newer copy will not have this line.
******
The Barnyard Buddies Meet a Newcomer
View: on Bookshelves |
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