Lily Small

Io amo i libri per bambini! Sarà il mio desiderio di tornare con la mente all'infanzia, il fatto che sono libri carini e pucciosi dove non si conosce (o quasi) la crudeltà del mondo che sono ricchi di illustrazioni (il più delle volte) fatto sta che ogni volta che recupero libri per bambini sento il bisogno di leggerli e così è avvenuto con Chloe la gattina, avevo già adocchiato il libro tempo fa su Amazon, mi aveva colpito la copertina così pucciosa e adorabile ma non avevo mai deciso di comprarlo visto il numero delle pagine e il costo che paragonato al cartaceo non conveniva affatto, una volta però trovato sul web non ho potuto fare altro che scaricarlo e leggerlo.
La storia è molto sempliciotta e banale essendo per bambini (e di certo non pensata per una ventunenne pazza come me) Chloe vive nel bosco di Misty Wood e tutte le mattine si alza presto per poter decorare le ragnatele del bosco con gocce di rugiada. Un giorno Chloe durante il suo lavoro mattutino incontra un piccolo topolino in lacrime alla ricerca della mamma e del papà, riuscirà la dolce gattina a riportare il topino dai genitori? Ovviamente si, è una favola, mica il gatto si manca il topo, vi pare? La storiella è molto graziosa e simpatica e arricchita con graziosi disegni che sicuramente sul cartaceo rendono molto di più (e possono essere colorati *_*) al fondo del libro si potrà inoltre trovare un simpatico test nel quale scopriremo quale animaletto del bosco di Misty Wood siamo (io sono la gattina… (más)

I did not like this book. However, my children did, and there is a good chance that other children will, too. It is part of a series called "Fairy Animals of Misty Wood", which is a fantasy series set in a land where all the animals are fairies, and have shiny little wings. In this book, the reader meets Chloe, a fairy kitten. Like all fairy kittens, Chloe has the job of putting dewdrops on cobwebs by a certain time of the day, but she gets off to a rough start when she forgets her basket. Then, after finishing a section of cobweb, she notices that all her dewdrops are missing! She discovers a small mouse as the culprit, who took the drops because he was thirsty. At first Chloe is angry, but then she learns that the sad mouse is lost and looking for his parents. Chloe agrees to help the mouse along on his quest, even if it means traveling a to a few scary places.

The story is full of cuddly moments and adorable animals, and features a good lesson about helping others. My daughter loves it because it is about animals - no, fairy animals - and she can never get enough of that topic. The plot had just enough suspense to keep her attention engaged, but not enough to really put anything at risk. The result was that she was curious and excited to find out how everything would be resolved, while her mommy was secretly rolling her eyes at some of the trumped up problems that were rather inconsequential. Like a missing basket, or having to get the dewdrops done by a certain time of the day. Why? Because if she didn't then she was letting everyone down. I suppose this seems like a big deal for kids, but as an adult I can't help thinking there are a lot of ways around these particular dilemmas. My biggest issue, though, was the whole thing seemed silly and manufactured. Like the publisher knew that kids like animals and fairies, so it was a great idea to combine the two and generate a story that justified that. The writing is decent, but it feels generic, and the story most closely resembles those kids' television shows that aren't that great but succeed because they rely on elements that appeal to children, rather than good storytelling. Again, these concerns may bother me, but they don't affect my daughter, who will continue to choose books because they have cute animals on the cover, regardless of their content.… (más)