Review of Sock Lobsters

[Sabrina Lee 4]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Sock Lobsters" by Michelle Bulriss.]

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3 out of 5 stars

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Sock Lobsters is a cute short story that makes the struggle of feeling and expressing our emotions relatable to children and even adults. Although I thought the story was easy to follow and showed the expression of multiple emotions in the sock characters, I felt like the storyline was a little random and unfulfilling. There wasn't any detail or extra guidance around what the socks or the main character were feeling. I think the story would be improved if there were a little more conversation between the characters after the dilemma and the rush of new feelings are introduced. I believe the author's use of imagery was very limited, even though illustrations were provided throughout.

For example, the story introduces the first character of the book, the grandmother, with details, explaining her favorite hobby and connection to the other characters to be later introduced. However, there is limited detail or story given to the sock characters themselves or the granddaughter, Emily. The story is written to occur within a very short period, which to me, feels rushed and makes it difficult to understand the jumps from talking socks to a laundry mat to, very quickly, the dilemma and nearly immediate resolution. I feel like this may be confusing to a child reader who may focus on why or how the socks and animals are talking instead of how we all feel and process lots of difficult emotions.

I also feel like the use of words (or names of feelings) in the illustrations later in the book is ineffective, and instead, it feels like a lazy effort to tell the reader what emotion the author is trying to portray through a vague storyline. To give an equally obvious effect, I think the author could have, instead, added a little more to the middle of the story to show more depth in the emotions and characters.

Overall, I think the book is written grammatically well, but needs some adjusting to improve the connection between the reader, the storyline, and the overall purpose of the book (if that purpose is to introduce children to feeling and expressing big emotions).

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Sock Lobsters
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