[BOOK REVIEW] Big Bad Bruce by Bill Peet

Title:  Big Bad Bruce

Author:  Bill Peet

Genre:  Animals / Manners / Bullying / Magic

Year Published: 1977

Year Read:  2009

Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin Company

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 6+  (Bullying)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

“Big Bad Bruce” is another classic tale by Bill Peet and it is about how Bruce the Bear tortures small creatures and he eventually gets what he deserves when Roxy the witch shrinks him down to the size of a chipmunk.  The lesson of this story may have not been taught right, but this book is still a treat for children to read.

Bill Peet does an excellent job at illustrating and writing the story “Big Bad Bruce.”  First, I like to talk about Bill Peet’s illustrations as they are beautiful and colorful when he illustrates Bruce to seem more like a scruffy and mischievous bear rather than a scary and vicious bear.  The image that I really enjoyed was the image of Bruce standing up on his hind legs looking for some mischief to do as he has a mischievous grin on his face.  Second, I like to talk about Bill Peet’s writing as he effectively uses a fantasy element (witchcraft) to make Bruce see everything from a chipmunk’s point of view and learns about how the other animals felt when he picked on them.  Roxy was probably the most interesting character in this story as she was the only one who was able to stand up to Bruce when he was big and I love how she creatively teaches Bruce a lesson about bullying by shrinking him down to the size of a chipmunk.

“Big Bad Bruce” is an interesting story about the consequences of teasing other people, but parents may want to avert their children about the real lesson being taught her, instead of doing what Bruce has done at the end of the book.  I would recommend this book to children ages six and up due to some advanced vocabulary in this book and the fact that Bruce had not really learned his lesson.

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[BOOK REVIEW] How Droofus the Dragon Lost His Head by Bill Peet

Title:  How Droofus the Dragon Lost His Head

Author:  Bill Peet

Genre:  Animals / Royalty / Friendship / Adventure

Year Published: 1971

Year Read:  2009

Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin Company

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 4+  (Nothing Objectionable)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

“How Droofus the Dragon Lost His Head” is another classic book from the creative mind of Bill Peet and is about a friendly dragon named Droofus who ends up being the friendliest dragon ever.  “How Droofus the Dragon Lost His Head” may be a bit tedious for some children who want action, but it is still an instant classic for many children to read.

Bill Peet’s story about a friendly dragon is a great tale for many children who love reading about dragons and mythical creatures.  The scene in this book that stuck out the most was where Droofus saves a grasshopper from being eaten by a spider and that is where Droofus contemplates on whether or not he should eat the grasshopper.  Of course, Droofus decides to not eat the grasshopper and goes on a diet of grass, which proves how humane Droofus becomes as the story progresses.  Bill Peet’s illustrations are beautiful, especially of the images of Droofus flying over the countryside and you can see the old fashioned houses as Droofus flies over them.

“How Droofus the Dragon Lost His Head” is a great book about friendship and how kindness can make one a happy person that many children will read over and over again for many years.  I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since I do not see anything that would be inappropriate for young children.

* 1976 Colorado Children's Book Award

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[BOOK REVIEW] Randy's Dandy Lions by Bill Peet

Title:  Randy's Dandy Lions

Author:  Bill Peet

Genre:  Circus / Animals / Training / Children's

Year Published: 1964

Year Read:  2010

Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin Company

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+  (A Scene of Bullying)

Buy or Add on:  Amazon  //  Goodreads

“Randy’s Dandy Lions” is another classic book from the creative mind of Bill Peet about how Randy’s lions always had stage fright but they realized that there are things far scarier than stage fright.  “Randy’s Dandy Lions” is a superb book about friendship that children will enjoy for many years.

Bill Peet has done it again with his brilliant illustrations and witty writing.  Bill Peet’s writing is cleverly written in a rhyming prose, making this story similar to Dr. Seuss’ children’s books, thus making the story extremely creative to read as children will have fun putting the rhyming words together.  Bill Peet’s illustrations are beautiful as usual in this book, especially in the images of the lions performing on stage as the lions are innocent looking yet also look a bit cowardly and scraggly, which fit the situation that the lions were in perfectly.

Parents should know that the new trainer that he Colonel hires to replace Randy may frighten smaller children, especially during the scenes where the new trainer starts whipping the lions relentlessly.  Parents might want to tell their children that it is not good to mistreat pets in this manner and that one should not use brute force to get what he or she wants.

“Randy’s Dandy Lions” is another great classic from the brilliant mind of Bill Peet and will surely attract many children who are fans of Bill Peet’s marvelous work.  I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since smaller children might be frightened by the new trainer who comes later on in the book.

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[BOOK REVIEW] The Caboose Who Got Loose by Bill Peet

Title:  The Caboose Who Got Loose

Author:  Bill Peet

Genre:  Trains / Traveling / Children's / Adventure

Year Published: 1971

Year Read:  2009

Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin Company

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 4+  (Nothing Objectionable)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

“The Caboose Who Got Loose” is a great story from the creative mind of Bill Peet about a small caboose named Katy who wants to escape her life as a caboose and live happily in a peaceful place.  “The Caboose Who Got Loose” may be a bit tedious for some children, but it is still a cute little story nonetheless. 

Bill Peet’s story about a caboose who wants to live a peaceful life in the countryside is a great tale for many children.  Children will feel for Katy’s sadness at being a mere caboose and not having a peaceful life of her own.  Bill Peet’s writing is highly creative as he narrates the story in a rhyming prose that fits the mood of the story perfectly.  Bill Peet’s illustrations are always the highlights in his books and this is certainly no exception.  The characters are drawn in a similar fashion as “The Brave Little Toaster” as the cabooses and the houses have windows for eyes. 

“The Caboose Who Got Loose” is a cute story about how one must be satisfied with what life brings us and will definitely interest many children who love books about trains and how to love life.  I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate about the story.

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[BOOK REVIEW] Cyrus the Unsinkable Sea Serpent by Bill Peet

Title:  Cyrus the Unsinkable Sea Serpent

Author:  Bill Peet

Genre:  Animals / Children's / Sea / Adventure / Pirates / Traveling

Year Published: 1975

Year Read:  1994

Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin Company

Source:  Purchased

Content Rating:  Ages 7+  (Some Intense Scenes)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

“Cyrus the Unsinkable Sea Serpent” is an adventurous book from Bill Peet about how a friendly sea serpent who at first wanted to wreck a ship to have fun, ends up trying to protect a ship full of passengers looking for a new land.  “Cyrus the Unsinkable Sea Serpent” may be tough for smaller children to read but older children would most likely enjoy the adventurous scenes contained in this book. 

Bill Peet’s writing is extremely inventive and exciting as he writes the story about a sea serpent that is willing to risk his life to protect the people on a voyage for a new life.  Bill Peet is extremely inventive whenever he uses various words such as “doldrums” and “bedraggled” to make the story more clever and dramatic.  Also, the idea that Cyrus is more like a friendly sea serpent rather than a vicious one makes the story more creative as people usually believe that sea monsters are meant to be scary.  Bill Peet’s illustrations are beautiful and colorful, especially of the scenes where he illustrates the sea as a calm ocean for the water is beautifully blue and during the storm scenes, he makes the sky dark and the ocean smashing viciously at the Primrose. 

Parents should know that there are many advanced words in this book and that this book may be a bit too long for younger children to handle.  Some of the advanced words mentioned are “pilings,” “doldrums,” and “bedraggled” and young children may not understand what those words mean.  Parents should write down the advanced words down on a piece of paper and define them so that the younger children would understand what the word means and therefore, it would make it easier for them to read this book.  Also, the length of this book is a bit too long than any normal children’s book and that may be a bit too tiresome for some small children to handle, so parents should read at least a few pages a day so that children would not get too tired of this book. 

“Cyrus the Unsinkable Sea Serpent” is a wonderful story about the power of friendship and how it is better to help people rather than be cruel towards them and children would easily enjoy this book for ages.  I would recommend this book to children ages seven and up since the advanced words and the length of the book may be a bit too challenging for smaller children.

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[BOOK REVIEW] Encore for Eleanor by Bill Peet

Title:  Encore for Eleanor

Author:  Bill Peet

Genre:  Animals / Children's / Circus / Artist

Year Published: 1981

Year Read:  2010

Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin Company

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 4+  (Nothing Objectionable)

Buy or Add on:  Amazon  //  Goodreads

“Encore for Eleanor” is a cute story by Bill about an old elephant named Eleanor who was once a great circus performer, but was moved to the zoo when she got too old to play her part.  It was then at the zoo that Eleanor learns a new special ability that might jumpstart her career again.  “Encore for Eleanor” is a great book for children who want to discover new talents for themselves and realize that everyone is special in their own way.

Eleanor the elephant was once a great circus star who would stand on stilts and impressed the audience to no end.  One day however, since Eleanor has been performing in the circus for forty years, Eleanor’s knees were weak and suddenly, she fell off the stilts and landed on the floor with a hard crash!  Eleanor began to worry that her boss, Colonel T.J. Tinglehoffer was going to send her away because of her ruining her act by falling off the stilts.  Sure enough, Colonel Tinglehoffer did send Eleanor away to the zoo and Eleanor bade a tearful goodbye to her friends at the circus. 
Even though Eleanor had plenty to eat and good home to stay in, she still missed the circus life and was miserable because she felt like she could not do anything extraordinary like she used to do in the circus.  One day, however Eleanor awoke to find a teenage girl trying to draw a rhinoceros on her canvas.  Of course, when the rhinoceros moved and girl could not draw the rhinoceros, the girl became angry and threw her charcoal to the ground.  Eleanor was so interested in what the girl was doing, that she wanted to learn how to draw also.  So, when the girl went off to see some ducks in the pond, Eleanor slyly picked up the charcoal and she decided to draw one of the clowns from the circus.  However, Eleanor was soon discovered drawing the picture by the teenage girl and the teenage girl was so impressed by the drawing that she decided to show the picture to everyone.  Everyone was impressed except for Mr. McJunkens, who did not believe that Eleanor drew the clown.  Eleanor was so mad that she grabbed the charcoal and… 

What does Eleanor draw and will she able to convince Mr. McJunkens that she can really draw? 
  

Read the rest of the book to find out! 

Bill Peet’s story of an old elephant who wants to be special again is extremely cute and brilliant for children to read.  The scene that stood out the most for me was the scene where Eleanor learns how to draw after she witnesses the teenage girl drawing the rhinoceros.  That scene was so amazing because you would have never imagined an elephant drawing such a great picture and drew the picture in a matter of seconds.  Bill Peet’s illustrations are beautiful and detailed, especially of the image of Eleanor herself as she looks beautiful in her circus outfit and yet, she maintains wise appearance throughout the story telling the audience that she has indeed aged after performing in the circus for forty years.

“Encore for Eleanor” is a great book about the importance of trying out new activities in life to keep your life going and will surely encourage many children to follow what they believe in and do many new things in their lives.  I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.

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[BOOK REVIEW] The Spooky Tail of Prewitt Peacock by Bill Peet

Title:  The Spooky Tail of Prewitt Peacock

Author:  Bill Peet

Genre:  Animals / Bullying / Children's / Individuality

Year Published: 1973

Year Read:  2009

Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin Company

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 6+  (Bullying)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

“The Spooky Tail of Prewitt Peacock” is a children’s book about self-confidence from the popular children’s author, Bill Peet.  This book details Prewitt’s, a peacock, dilemma when his tail, at first was scrawny, becomes a horrifying looking tail over a matter of days!  This children’s book is truly a unique treat to read as you would never imagine a tail forming into a scary face over time and that will definitely catch any child’s attention. 

Bill Peet does an excellent job with both the illustrations and the writing for the story.  Bill Peet’s illustrations are vibrant and beautiful as he effectively draws the trees in the jungle in a scraggly way.  The image that is the highlight in this book is the image of Prewitt’s tail.  Prewitt’s tail is certainly a sight to see as Bill Peet draws Prewitt’s tail with two angry looking blue eyes and a frightening looking jagged mouth with sharp looking greenish teeth.  Also, I thought that the clutching feathery claws added an even spookier effect as they really look like they are going to grab you real quick.  Bill Peet’s writing is excellent as he tells the story of a peacock named Prewitt who at first lost confidence in himself because of his tail, but then gains it back when he realizes that his scary looking tail makes him unique from the other peacocks.  I also loved the way that Prewitt defended his tail against the other peacocks stating that he would rather have a tai that is scary-looking than to have no tail. 

Parents should know that the way that the other peacocks mistreated Prewitt because of his tail might concern young children.  Even after Prewitt’s tail had grown, the other peacocks still mistreated Prewitt because his tail was different from the others.  But, the story does have a happy ending as the other peacocks learn to accept Prewitt’s “special” tail after it saves their lives.  Parents should discuss to their children about the importance of individuality as Prewitt expresses his individuality by standing up for his tail. 

“The Spooky Tail of Prewitt Peacock” is probably one of Bill Peet’s most lovable books as it expresses the value of individuality.  I would recommend this book to children ages six and up since this book would be a tad bit too long for smaller children to get through.

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