babyleo's reviews
1689 reviews

Summer and the Groomsman

Cathryn Hein

3.5

lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

The View From The Balcony

Janette Paul

4.0

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

100 Remarkable Feats of Xander Maze

Clayton Zane Comber

3.5

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

Better Than Expected

Haley Cass

4.0

hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

Girl Falling

Hayley Scrivenor

4.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

Rocking Horse Hill

Cathryn Hein

3.5

emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

How to be a Giraffe: A story of belonging, resilience, and embracing our unique qualities

Thea Baker

3.0

funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

This review was published on Lost in a Good Book - https://wp.me/p3x8rS-33k

This is a fun book. Joffrey is born different and while he isn’t exactly cast out from his herd, he is made to feel weird and Not Like The Rest enough that he chooses to leave. Clearly Joffrey doesn’t have a Mrs Jumbo in his life that defends their kid the second their born from the rest of the mean herd.

The story follows Joffrey as he tries to find who he is, if he isn’t a giraffe then what could he possibly be? I love his attempts at being different animals – from bees, to crocodiles, to elephants. All of them not the right fit.

The narrative rhyme is simple and flows well as you read either aloud or to yourself. The illustrations and the text work well together as readers build anticipation with page turns and fun expressions.

The illustrations are sweet, the designs are simple and the colours are gorgeous in full and partial pages. The creative geometric designs used in the background design as well as some of the other animals is clever and add great texture to the page. I also loved the small details like a spotted zebra which goes to show that others might not match their community either but it doesn’t need to mean anything.

I like that when Joffrey goes home, the other giraffe realise they were wrong. His leaving made them understand they’d made a mistake which is a great apology to show. Joffrey didn’t have to be the one to be proud of who he is without the community knowing they’d been wrong as well. There’s no point being proud of who you are while everyone else thinks you’re weird and shouldn’t be there. That’s not fair to Joffrey and he’d be better off staying away.

It is a good message wrapped around a cute and humorous story and one I think a lot of people could learn from.