4 out of 4 stars
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There are silly children's books and there are children's books that teach lessons. Some children's books are so general that any child can enjoy them, and others are so focused on a particular topic that only a small subset of children will have a good time with them. If I were to put Ani Bandani's Bandaid Fever on a graph of these four possibilities, it would be waaaaaaaay in the corner of silly and focused.
Ani Bandani's Bandaid Fever is a children's picture book from Anna R. Davis aimed at early readers. The focus of the book is on, believe it or not, bandaids! Small ones, big ones, colorful ones, patterned ones, and even plain ones are all Ani's favorites. She collects them, she puts them all over herself, and she has some adorning her walls. Heck, there's even a museum-style glass case full of them, and her floor is covered with bandaids! But more than anything, she loves the SMELL of them. Book lovers love the smell of old books and libraries, trading card game players love the smell of a new pack of cards, and Ani loves the smell of bandaids.
The book is written with a series of rhyming lines. I was pleasantly surprised that, unlike many rhyming books, this one doesn't force the rhymes. Some may be a bit silly - "Shopping is the grandest thing/I feel as I'm the richest king. (well okay... queen)" - but they felt more like a Disney song playing with words than forcing anything. There really isn't a story here per se, it's more of an ode to bandaids, but it's fun and cute. She talks about what she does with them, the types she likes, and why she likes them.
Aside from being a book focused entirely on a girl's love of bandages, what makes Ani Bandani's Bandaid Fever unique is the artwork. Aside from a single digital illustration, the book is full of photographs of a doll in various settings. If you've seen Coraline, Gumby, or The Nightmare Before Christmas, you're familiar with how unique stop motion films are. This is essentially a children's book version of that! The images are very large (although not full-page), and 1-3 lines of words are written below them.
Overall Anna's Ani Bandani's Bandaid Fever is a cute book, and David G. Davis did a good job with the art. There were a couple times when Ani looked a little sinister due to the way she looked up at the camera, but overall it just seemed like a day visiting with a girl who loves the heck out of some bandaids! There were some great touches, such as reminders like "be patient" and "pray often" written on bandaids on the walls. It was also super silly seeing bandaids all over Ani in each image. If you have a child who likes playing with bandaids, this is the book for you. I can even see it helping with children that don't like bandaids; maybe seeing a girl who loves bandaids will help them see bandages as a fun thing. Due to all of this and some flawless editing, my rating is 4 out of 4 stars.
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Ani Bandani's Bandaid Fever
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