I've been reviewing "kind" and "unkind" behavior with my preschooler child, because recently she's been saying quite unkind things to family members and others.

The other day, we read through Nobody Likes a Goblin...and I asked questions before reading, like "Why do you think nobody likes a goblin?" ("because he's mean"). So I asked her to point out everywhere in the book that the goblin is mean (and everywhere he's nice). The first several pages, she pointed out some nice items. Then we get to a page where the farmer is upset, and chases the goblin off. She identified this as the goblin being mean. I asked why, and she said "he's mean because he made the farmer chase him away!".

We spent probably 20 minutes discussing what the different characters were saying and doing, and why they might be doing it. And we've really made progress in both figuring out the reasons people might say/do mean things, and also thinking more deeply about what it is to be kind or mean or what not. We even got to a page where the goblins are chasing the adventurers away...and talked about how it's a bit mean that they're chasing the adventurers away, but they're doing it to protect themselves and their friends, and that they are doing the minimum unkindness for the situation -- my child identified that that page is "" for how nice the goblin is.

This book is a really wonderful way to subtly get this concept across, and right now is one of my favorite books, for that reason.

From a book quality standpoint -- I really like how sparse the language is in the book, and how the imagery and writing complement each other well. I like the subtle reveal of what exactly the troll's "honk honk" is without needing words to beat me over the head with it. ( )

Cute! Who knew adventurers could be so villainous ( )

You can't go wrong with a [a:Ben Hatke|3212743|Ben Hatke|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1309996180p2/3212743.jpg] picture book.

Note: I received a digital review copy of this book through NetGalley. ( )

Had me smiling from cover to cover. The artwork was just lovely. Makes me wish my nieces were still young enough to where I could read to them and point out "Here's Skeleton! See his crown!". Fantasy fans and fantasy fans who have younglings who are also fantasy fans will enjoy the light story and pictures. ( )

Yes! D&D picture book, with all the cute illustrations, and the adventure flipped on its head.Go goblin, go! ( )