VeggieTales: The Mess Detectives and The Case of the Lost Temper
25 September, 20143 Min Read
I chose to review this I Can Read! Level One reader by Big Idea Books for my daughter.. my very first children’s book review! Woohoo, how exciting!!
Although this Level 1 Easy Reader is still way beyond my daughters one year old book range (we’re still, obviously, in the book board stage with pretty pictures and textures for touching), but since we are such suckers for Veggie Tales we decided to start stocking up early on these books for review and future enjoyment.
And really, when I say we are suckers for Veggie Tales, I mean we are SUCKERS. Both my hubby and I enjoyed the series and songs as teens (it was one of our bonding moments while dating) and a Veggie Tales board book was one of the first book we bought for Tessa. We watch and listen to Veggie Tales shows with her almost every day. Soooo yeah. This book seemed to a no brainer for review.
About the Book
Description from Amazon.com:
A Lesson in Self-Control
In this Level One VeggieTales I Can Read, The Mess Detectives and the Case of the Lost Temper, Bob and Larry have another important case … track down the Masked Door Slammer. But when the investigation doesn’t go the way Bob wants, and things go wrong, he begins to lose his temper.
Will a gentle reminder from Larry help Bob get his temper under control?
My Thoughts on the Book
So first off, my one year old’s impression of the book. She got excited over the pictures, no doubt recognizing her favorite characters, and kept pointing at Bob going, “Da!” Whatever that means in baby speak.
She was so entranced by the pictures that she actually sat through my reading the entire book to her. Sounds simple for such a short book, but for a one year old, I was really impressed. Afterwards I risked a disaster and let her walk around with the book. She kept flipping pages, pointing at pictures, and then took the book for a ride in her baby doll stroller. So far, it remains untorn and intact, so I’m guessing she likes it.
But as for my thoughts on the book.. well. I’m thinking I either have no experience with Easy Readers of this was just painfully cheesy. Or both. I honestly can’t tell. Basically, Bob and Larry are detectives who are trying to find a door slammer that turns out to be the wind. Bob starts out in a bad mood and just gets progressively angrier when Larry puts on silly disguises for their undercover mission or whatever.
Eventually Larry calms Bob down by.. telling him to calm down. Bob gets calm and apologizes. Now, as far as practical knowledge or lessons go (which you usually find with Veggie Tales) there was no real lesson here. Nothing a kid could glean or learn from. I mean, I know it’s a little kids book using level one reading, so I shouldn’t expect an intricate plot or storyline, but I’m thinking they could have a least squeezed in something about.. I dunno… controlling your temper beyond saying, “Hey, stop.” Followed by, “Okay!”
I dunno. I wasn’t terribly impressed. But I’m willing to give these Veggie Tale Readers another try!
So, the lesson in self control is just to stop? On your own? I take it they aren’t doing the Biblical lessons any longer? I thought the company was completely gone under, too bad it’s just a ‘nice people’ type company, and not the Christian group they started out as. At least you still have access to the early stuff. I know Tessa loves the songs.
They did have a Scripture verse at the end of the book.. again, I can’t tell if it’s just an early reader (few words and easy words at that) that caused the lack of story.. I’ll just have to get Tessa some more readers to see for myself if this lack of a “moral of the story” is typical of these type books, lol..
That is what all early readers are like. It’s for advanced preschoolers or kindergarteners who are just beginning to read. They can read the extremely simple, short story with few words by themselves and gain proficiency. You’ll want to try other books or a higher level for more story line or a larger vocabulary.
So, the lesson in self control is just to stop? On your own? I take it they aren’t doing the Biblical lessons any longer? I thought the company was completely gone under, too bad it’s just a ‘nice people’ type company, and not the Christian group they started out as. At least you still have access to the early stuff. I know Tessa loves the songs.
They did have a Scripture verse at the end of the book.. again, I can’t tell if it’s just an early reader (few words and easy words at that) that caused the lack of story.. I’ll just have to get Tessa some more readers to see for myself if this lack of a “moral of the story” is typical of these type books, lol..
That is what all early readers are like. It’s for advanced preschoolers or kindergarteners who are just beginning to read. They can read the extremely simple, short story with few words by themselves and gain proficiency. You’ll want to try other books or a higher level for more story line or a larger vocabulary.
Yeah… when I reflect on my childhood reads, I realize there isn’t much storyline to “See Spot Run”.. haha..