Score: 95+/100 (9.5+/10)
Paddy Poopenhopper's Magic Turds is an adorable, hilarious, whimsical, and uplifting children's book by Heather S. Lonczak, PhD! Look, we're going to just come out and say it: we LOVED this book! It was a welcomed distraction and deviation from the doom-and-gloom books we've been getting in our contest lately. This book is genuinely charming, funny, and enjoyable. So, what is it about? Welcome to the town of Gooberville, an otherwise normal town with an intriguing and magical mystery that's sure to captivate young readers at circle time! It is said that the town is frequented by a giant flying bunny rabbit named Paddy Poopenhopper! What's more? It's believed that Paddy Poopenhopper's turds (poop) can magically transform into GOLD! So, basically, Paddy Poopenhopper is like the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, the Golden Goose, and a St. Patrick's Day leprechaun all rolled into one! But Paddy Poopenhopper doesn't just distribute gold to anyone, and not just for any purpose. Paddy seems to have a deliberate and conscientious reason for doing so which plays into the book's positive, uplifting, and encouraging message. The children of Gooberville are always trying to spot and find the giant flying rabbit and its turds, often to the dismay of their parents who find these turds in the kids' pockets and in overflowing boxes on their front porch. One of these children, perhaps the truest believer of them all, is Little Gracie Boone, the protagonist of the first third of the book. Little Gracie Boone is inspired to find the turds because a storm partially-destroyed the home of one of the town's most beloved teachers, Fanny Nickerbocker, who is also pregnant with triplets. Wanting the Nickerbockers and their babies to have a good home to live in, Little Gracie Boone goes on a quest to find turds and turn them into gold to raise money for the family. There are several theories on how those rabbit turds can be turned into gold. Some say that you need to rub the turds on your head. Others say that you need to squash and squeeze them between your hands. Still, others say that you need to plant them exactly six inches apart. This leads to some humorous scenes including Little Gracie Boone attempting all of these without fully remembering the methods. Ultimately, she decides to dig a hole and grow the turd she found. What ends up happening is it blooms into a purple “turd plant” which begins to sprout golden nuggets. This creates a bit of a frenzy in the town as people scramble to find turds and grow them the way that Little Gracie Boone did. However, they're met with no success. In fact, some of the treasure seekers start bragging, arguing, disputing, and competing against each other. There are several characters, like Ms. Smelli (who we implied to be the mayor or principal), who are just in it for themselves and are clearly greedy. You start to get the sense that their negative attitudes and selfish ambitions are what's preventing them from being successful and receiving Paddy Poopenhopper's gift. That point is emphasized even more when a fire burns down the town's beloved French fry restaurant, Goober's Tubers. Of all people, the now-slightly-grown Nickerbocker triplets (Avery, Diego, and Bo) go out to get turds and make gold for the family of the restaurant who are now homeless and jobless. It's actually very touching and cute! Another great thing about this book are the illustrations by Claudia Varjotie. They're not hyperrealistic, jaw-dropping stuff like what Melissa Kahl makes. They're not super-impressive, super-involved extrasensory overload like what Eunhye Shin made. However, they're just right for the story that the author was going for. There's a real sense of wonder and magic in these illustrations. They have a bright, soft, cloudy sort of feel. You can almost smell the cotton candy on the pages just by the way the illustrations appear. We loved the pastel colors, which is perfect for the Easter holiday season. We love the humor. And we also loved the positive message about helping and supporting others instead of being all in it for yourself. Check it out on Amazon!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
November 2024
Categories |