[BOOK REVIEW] D.W. All Wet by Marc Brown

Title:  D.W. All Wet

Author:  Marc Brown

Genre:  Animals / Beach / Siblings / Family / Vacation

Year Published: 1988

Year Read:  2017

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Series: D.W. #2

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 4+  (Some Rude Behavior)

Buy or Add on:  Amazon  //  Goodreads

After I read “D.W. the Picky Eater,” I got even more interested in Marc Brown’s “D.W.” series since I am a huge fan of his “Arthur” series and I wanted to get into the “D.W.” series as well!  So, when I finally got around to reading “D.W. All Wet,” I was pleasantly surprised by the simplistic yet hilarious storytelling of this book!

The story starts off with Arthur’s family going off to the beach for a nice vacation, but D.W. was complaining about not wanting to go to the beach because she did not want to get wet.  Even though her family enjoyed swimming in the ocean, D.W. still refused to go out into the ocean for a swim.  A few moments later, Arthur was planning on going for a walk and D.W. wanted to go with Arthur, so she climbed on Arthur’s back and they started walking along the beach with D.W. giving Arthur directions on where to go on the beach.  Suddenly, Arthur starts losing control of where they were walking and…

Where is Arthur taking D.W. and will D.W. ever get in the water?

Read this book to find out!

You know what, I have always loved Marc Brown’s cute and witty writing on his “Arthur” series and this book is still as witty and fun to read as Marc Brown’s other “Arthur” books!  I loved the way that Marc Brown wrote D.W.’s predicament in not wanting to go into the water because she did not want to get wet and it was hilarious seeing D.W. refusing to go into the water even though her family are enjoying themselves.  I also found myself relating to D.W.’s predicament in not wanting to go into the water because I remembered when I was little and I was trying to swim for the first time, I did not want to go into the water because I was afraid of drowning, but I eventually got the courage to go into the water after I saw how much fun everyone else was having in the water and this book is extremely relatable to any child who has trouble trying to get into the water at the beach for the first time.  I also like the way that Marc Brown portrayed Arthur and D.W.’s relationship in this book as they are not as antagonistic to each other as they usually are in the other “Arthur” books and it was great seeing Arthur trying to help his sister D.W. get into the water and show her how fun swimming can be.  Marc Brown’s artwork is much more subdued in this book than in his other books as the outlines of the characters are much lighter in tone instead of the usual bold black lines and the color tones are much more earthly, giving this story a more traditional and down to earth tone.

Overall, “D.W. All Wet” is a truly fantastic and fun book to read for children who love reading books about beaches and having the same experiences as D.W. did.  I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book, unless D.W.’s bratty behavior might be a problem for some children.

[BOOK REVIEW] D.W. the Picky Eater by Marc Brown

Title:  D.W. the Picky Eater

Author:  Marc Brown

Genre:  Animals / Manners / Family / Food / Humor

Year Published: 1995

Year Read:  2016

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Series: D.W. #5

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 4+ (Some Rude Behavior)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 



  

Now, I have been a huge fan of Marc Brown’s “Arthur” series ever since I was a little girl and I guess I will make it my goal to read up on all of Marc Brown’s “Arthur” series!  So, when I found out that Marc Brown had a made a spin off series to his “Arthur” books that stars Arthur’s little sister D.W., of course I was interested to see how D.W. will fare with her own series and for my first read from the “D.W.” series, “D.W. the Picky Eater” was a pretty entertaining read!

D.W. is the world’s pickiest eater as she refuses to eat anything that is new or looks disgusting; but the food that D.W. loathes more than anything in the world is…SPINACH!  Because of D.W.’s eating habits, her family has a difficult time trying to get her to eat anything without complaining.  But when D.W. throws a tantrum on a family outing, D.W.’s family decides that D.W. should stay home whenever they go out to eat and D.W. starts wondering about what she is really missing out on the family outings.  One day, D.W.’s family decided to go out and celebrate Grandma Thora’s birthday at a fancy restaurant and D.W. wanted to go with them.

Will D.W. get over her “picky eater” habits in time for Grandma Thora’s birthday party?

Read this book to find out!

As always whenever I am reading Marc Brown’s “Arthur” books, Marc Brown knows how to bring on the humor with these characters while at the same time, giving these characters experiences that are relatable to any reader.  I loved the fact that we get to explore what it is like being a picky eater through D.W.’s perspective as it was entertaining seeing what kind of food D.W. will turn down because it was new and it looked disgusting to her.  It was also interesting seeing the consequences that D.W. goes through in being a picky eater as she was not allowed to participate in the family’s restaurant outings due to her misbehavior.  To be honest, I can relate to D.W. being a picky eater since I am a picky eater myself as I will eat food that clashes with what my family wants.  For example, if my family wants to go to Wendy’s, then I usually want to go to Chick-fil-A or whenever my family wants to go to KFC, I usually want to go to Ruby Tuesday.  I also like the fact that Marc Brown was able to produce a book that focuses mostly on D.W. since I wanted to see more adventures from Arthur’s family and this book did an excellent job at giving D.W. the spotlight in the “Arthur” series!  Marc Brown’s artwork is as usual adorable and fun to look at as all the characters are drawn as half animal, half human hybrids and yet, it just makes the characters look even more creative than usual!  I also loved the images of D.W. always having a disgusted look on her face every time she tries a food product that is new to her as it was hilarious to look at!

Overall, “D.W. the Picky Eater” is a truly entertaining children’s book for fellow picky eaters and anyone who is a huge fan of Marc Brown’s “Arthur” series!  I would recommend this book to children’s ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book, unless D.W.’s bratty behavior might cause concern for some parents.

[BOOK REVIEW] What's So Funny, Ketu? by Verna Aardema

Title:  What's So Funny Ketu?

Author:  Verna Aardema

Artist:  Marc Brown

Genre:  Family / Africa / Humor / Folktale

Year Published: 1982

Year Read:  1993

Publisher: The Dial Press

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+ (Threats of Death)

Buy or Add on:  Amazon  //  Goodreads

Now, everyone knows about Marc Brown’s famous “Arthur” series and how it managed to remain well-loved by children for many years, right?  Well, did you know that Marc Brown had illustrated an underrated children's book called “What’s So Funny, Ketu?” which was also written by Verna Aardema and was based off an old Nuer folktale?  I must admit that it took me awhile to get back around to this story since it was so unknown to the general children’s book community and I could not remember the title of this story at the time, but I will say that this story is definitely worth reading!

The story starts off with Ketu saving a snake from his dog and the snake wanted to reward Ketu for his kindness by giving him the gift to hear animals’ thoughts.  Of course, there is a price to this gift: if Ketu tells anyone what the animals are really thinking about, he will DIE!  So, Ketu promised not to reveal the animals’ thoughts to anyone, not even to his wife Nyaloti.  Unfortunately, this starts causing problems for Ketu as every time he hears the animals’ thoughts, he would start laughing uncontrollably to the point where he would startled anyone near him.  This then leads to his wife Nyaloti going to the Chief and telling the Chief that her husband is supposedly laughing at her since Ketu refuses to tell her what he is really laughing about.  The Chief then tells Ketu that if he does not tell everyone what he is really laughing about, then his wife Nyaloti and their baby daughter will have to go back and live with her father.

Will Ketu tell everyone his secret or will he risk dying in the process?

Read this book to find out!

Now, I have been a huge fan of Marc Brown’s works for many years now, mainly with his work on the “Arthur” series.  However, I was quite surprised that Marc Brown had done some gorgeous artwork for this unknown children’s book “What’s So Funny, Ketu?”  Marc Brown’s artwork is just gorgeous in this book as the characters look realistic and the African setting of this story is extremely vibrant to look at.  I also loved the fact that most of the colorings in the artwork are mainly done in red, brown, yellow, black and white colors as they really made the artwork truly stand out.  It is amazing how realistic and gorgeous Marc Brown’s artwork looks in this book compared to the artwork in the later “Arthur” books and I just cannot help but stare for many hours at these wonderful illustrations! Verna Aardema’s storytelling was truly wonderful in this book as I thought that this book was barrels of fun and I loved the way that Verna Aardema used various phrases such as “tu-e, tu-e, tu-e” and “pah, pah, pah” to describe the sound effects that each character makes such as laughing or patting a baby on the back.

Parents should know that there are some mentions of death in this book, mainly concerning that if Ketu tells anyone his secret, he will die.  Parents might want to discuss about the subject of death with their children before reading them this book.

Overall, “What’s So Funny, Ketu?” is a truly brilliant book for anyone who loves African folktales and underrated classics!  I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the subject of death might be a bit upsetting for some children.