[BOOK REVIEW] Good News Bad News by Jeff Mack

Title:  Good News Bad News

Author:  Jeff Mack

Genre:  Animals / Comedy / Friendship

Year Published: 2012

Year Read:  2016

Publisher: Chronicle Books

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 3+ (Nothing Objectionable)

I have read many children’s books that have like one or two words on each page to narrate the story.  But, I had never read a children’s book quite like “Good News Bad News” by Jeff Mack that not only has four words on each page, but also conveys so much emotion and humor in this simple children’s story!

The story starts off with Rabbit pronouncing “Good News!” to Mouse as he shows him the picnic basket that they are going to eat out of for their picnic.  Mouse then pronounces “Bad News” when it starts to rain, but then Rabbit says “Good News!” when he produces an umbrella for Mouse to use.  Mouse then says “Bad News” when the umbrella is blown away, along with him on it, but Rabbit then says “Good News!” when the umbrella and Mouse ended up in a tree.  But then Mouse says “Bad News” when the apples started falling from the tree, hitting him…

You see where this story is going?

How much can Mouse and Rabbit handle with all of this misfortune happening to them on their picnic?

Read this book to find out!

Jeff Mack has done an excellent job at writing this book as the story is mainly told through the four words “good news, bad news” and these words convey the humor and the emotion in the story extremely well!  I loved the way that Jeff Mack wrote both Rabbit and Mouse as Rabbit is portrayed as being the more optimistic of the two as he is the one who constantly says “Good News!” throughout the story as he tries to look on the brighter side of things.  Then we have Mouse who is portrayed as being more negative than Rabbit and he is the one who is always saying “Bad News!” when bad things start happening (especially to him).  It helps give the story two different perspectives on the situations at hand and it gives the story a balance between being optimistic and being negative.  Jeff Mack’s artwork is both cute and hilarious to look at as Rabbit is shown as having a constant wide grin on his face no matter how bad things get as the story progresses. Mouse meanwhile is shown to be snarling on every page and seems to have a torn up ear and a bandaged tail that indicates all the bad things happening to him throughout the story.

Overall, “Good News Bad News” is a cute and hilarious children’s book about the importance of friendship and how it can survive even through the worst situations.  I would recommend this book to children ages three and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book and the narrative is easy enough for smaller children to read through.