books 2015: Bell's Big Move, by Tom Shay-Zapien
Here's the book's description (copied from goodreads): Bell's Big Move tells the story of Bell and her girl, Sofia, who move from the big city to the quiet town of Pineville, where life is a lot less busy. Will their new friends, Jingle and Andrew, help make Pineville feel like home?
Little ones will love hearing this story as a narrator reads to them, page by page. And if she's nearby, the Bell Story Buddy stuffed animal will respond when you read key phrases from the story.
And here's the feedback letter I just sent to Hallmark about this book:
First, the book is really cute, and my daughter loves the way the stuffed dog interacts with the book. It's a great product, but I'd like to recommend some improvements if you continue this series next Christmas or offer a similar series in the future.
First of all, although my daughter speaks very well and understandably for a three-year-old, she does lisp a bit on the double-L in Bell's name (like many children would!), so the dog never responds when my child tries to talk to her. You have never seen frustration until you've seen a crying toddler screaming "BEWW, CAN YOU SAY THANK YOU?!" She just doesn't understand why "her" toy will only talk to me! Next time, it would be great if you could either improve your voice recognition software to allow for better recognition of children's speech, or give future characters easy-to-say names like "Bob".
My other feedback is with regard to the book's content. As the mother of a girl, I don't think I'm alone in being very sensitive to the messages my daughter receives from the media, and here your book completely fails: Bell is described repeatedly as being lovable only because she is pretty. The first page reads exactly as follows:
"There are lots of lovable puppies in the world, but of all the little puppies anyone could possibly know, there was probably none as lovable as Bell. She had style, charm, and flair. She even had a fancy little collar. There was no denying it, Bell was one pretty puppy!"
This tone continues throughout the book; three of the eight sentences that the plush dog responds to are about how pretty she is. I find this really unfortunate, because Bell as a character has a lot of redeeming qualities: she's friendly, loyal, fun-loving, and smart. None of these qualities are ever mentioned, though. The book continues to emphasize the dog's physical appearance even though that has nothing to do with the main storyline: helping a child through a tough move to a new place. Although there are many girls and women (and boys and men!) who enjoy pretty jewelry, looking nice, and being pampered, I don't want to prioritize such things to my child at such a young age. I also question whether the corresponding "boy" book about Andrew and Jingle even mentioned what Jingle looked like (although we do find out here that he goes to a groomer).
Overall, even though the book is cute and my daughter likes it, I find myself hiding it behind the couch cushions rather than have to keep editing myself as I read it aloud to her (for example, I give her a completely different reading of the first page quoted above). You don't need to write a pretty pink "girly" book to reach female children in the market; girls often like the same things that boys do (for example, my daughter loves dinosaurs, trucks, and baby dolls about equally). I strongly encourage you to think about the messages you're sending to children when you commission such books in the future, and I would be pleased if you would pass my feedback along to the author.
Little ones will love hearing this story as a narrator reads to them, page by page. And if she's nearby, the Bell Story Buddy stuffed animal will respond when you read key phrases from the story.
And here's the feedback letter I just sent to Hallmark about this book:
First, the book is really cute, and my daughter loves the way the stuffed dog interacts with the book. It's a great product, but I'd like to recommend some improvements if you continue this series next Christmas or offer a similar series in the future.
First of all, although my daughter speaks very well and understandably for a three-year-old, she does lisp a bit on the double-L in Bell's name (like many children would!), so the dog never responds when my child tries to talk to her. You have never seen frustration until you've seen a crying toddler screaming "BEWW, CAN YOU SAY THANK YOU?!" She just doesn't understand why "her" toy will only talk to me! Next time, it would be great if you could either improve your voice recognition software to allow for better recognition of children's speech, or give future characters easy-to-say names like "Bob".
My other feedback is with regard to the book's content. As the mother of a girl, I don't think I'm alone in being very sensitive to the messages my daughter receives from the media, and here your book completely fails: Bell is described repeatedly as being lovable only because she is pretty. The first page reads exactly as follows:
"There are lots of lovable puppies in the world, but of all the little puppies anyone could possibly know, there was probably none as lovable as Bell. She had style, charm, and flair. She even had a fancy little collar. There was no denying it, Bell was one pretty puppy!"
This tone continues throughout the book; three of the eight sentences that the plush dog responds to are about how pretty she is. I find this really unfortunate, because Bell as a character has a lot of redeeming qualities: she's friendly, loyal, fun-loving, and smart. None of these qualities are ever mentioned, though. The book continues to emphasize the dog's physical appearance even though that has nothing to do with the main storyline: helping a child through a tough move to a new place. Although there are many girls and women (and boys and men!) who enjoy pretty jewelry, looking nice, and being pampered, I don't want to prioritize such things to my child at such a young age. I also question whether the corresponding "boy" book about Andrew and Jingle even mentioned what Jingle looked like (although we do find out here that he goes to a groomer).
Overall, even though the book is cute and my daughter likes it, I find myself hiding it behind the couch cushions rather than have to keep editing myself as I read it aloud to her (for example, I give her a completely different reading of the first page quoted above). You don't need to write a pretty pink "girly" book to reach female children in the market; girls often like the same things that boys do (for example, my daughter loves dinosaurs, trucks, and baby dolls about equally). I strongly encourage you to think about the messages you're sending to children when you commission such books in the future, and I would be pleased if you would pass my feedback along to the author.