I recently asked my husband what book I should review next. My two year old daughter quickly responded with her favorite Nook book, Mickey Mouse. So here we are, talking about Minnie's Valentine. Honestly, this isn't a very good book. I'm not a huge fan of children's books that are made from television shows. They tend to lack any real literary quality. Mickey Mouse is not the exception to the rule. I think there are committees at the various television companies who sit down and ask, "How can we drive parents to purchase more of our products?" Oh, yeah, they'll buy books, its better than letting children watch too much television. WRONG! It is only marginally better than television. However, Minnie's Valentine is not the best example of this, I leave that to Dora or Olivia (the ones based strictly based on the television show, not the original Olivia books).
In the beginning of Minnie's Valentine, Mickey claims to have heard the doorbell ring, but the text and picture never indicate any kind of noise. Usually there is something to show that the doorbell has rung. Mickey then opens the door and says hello to Miss M, who is quite obviously Minnie Mouse in disguise, which is fine. The part that bothers me is that Miss M never actually talks. Mickey does all of the talking throughout the book. There is no real dialogue, the author tries to tell you everything that is happening through Mickey's voice only. Since Miss M is trying to help Mickey think of something to give Minnie for Valentine's Day, I don't think this tactic works very well.
Mickey decides to make Minnie a hat for Valentine's Day. Wonderful. He needs yarn...so he gets a sheep for the wool, and clippers to get the wool off. Next he needs to know which tool to use to spin the wool. Really? He's clipping his own sheep and spinning the wool? After spinning the wool, he needs to dye it. For this, Mickey uses jars of what can only be described as paint, with a paint brush. My daughter loves this part of the book because Pluto gets "paint" on his nose. After this ordeal, Mickey is ready to knit the hat. When completed, Miss M leaves and Mickey is left with a perfect looking hat. Minnie comes in and opens her present and loves the hat.
When I bought this book I was hoping for some wonderful literary elements, or some rhyming, alliteration, something redeeming. What I got was some pretty pictures for my daughter to look through while laughing at the silly puppy.
In the beginning of Minnie's Valentine, Mickey claims to have heard the doorbell ring, but the text and picture never indicate any kind of noise. Usually there is something to show that the doorbell has rung. Mickey then opens the door and says hello to Miss M, who is quite obviously Minnie Mouse in disguise, which is fine. The part that bothers me is that Miss M never actually talks. Mickey does all of the talking throughout the book. There is no real dialogue, the author tries to tell you everything that is happening through Mickey's voice only. Since Miss M is trying to help Mickey think of something to give Minnie for Valentine's Day, I don't think this tactic works very well.
Mickey decides to make Minnie a hat for Valentine's Day. Wonderful. He needs yarn...so he gets a sheep for the wool, and clippers to get the wool off. Next he needs to know which tool to use to spin the wool. Really? He's clipping his own sheep and spinning the wool? After spinning the wool, he needs to dye it. For this, Mickey uses jars of what can only be described as paint, with a paint brush. My daughter loves this part of the book because Pluto gets "paint" on his nose. After this ordeal, Mickey is ready to knit the hat. When completed, Miss M leaves and Mickey is left with a perfect looking hat. Minnie comes in and opens her present and loves the hat.
When I bought this book I was hoping for some wonderful literary elements, or some rhyming, alliteration, something redeeming. What I got was some pretty pictures for my daughter to look through while laughing at the silly puppy.
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