Posts Tagged ‘Marketing-Driven Book-Objects’

Merliah goes on a fast-paced generic mermaid adventure with glaring plot holes! This book is adapted from a full-length video, and the story does not survive the translation.

Watch Out For: Merliah must go against her evil Aunt who is holding her mother in prison.

A field trip to learn about American History turns into an adventure for Arthur as he attempts to find the restroom.

Watch Out For: The picture on the cover shows Arthur running from a scary looking T Rex, but Arthur never sees the dinosaurs in the book. Arthur ends up lost in the back hallways on the museum and wanders into a few exhibits. Especially adventurous kids may not need this encouragement!

Poor little green engine Percy is always so skittish, and now he is awakened in the night by a dragon on the railway! It is only a paper dragon, of course, that Thomas was pulling to the parade.

Watch Out For: The images of the dragon in the dark may be legitimately frightening at first. Percy tells his friends about the dragon, but is teased by James and brushed off by Edward. Only kind Thomas explains it all and takes Percy to the parade to see that the dragon is not scary.

The Nickelodeon television product expands to the printed book sales channel!

An apparent adaptation from a TV episode, this book interpolates small cartoons in place of a word or two in nearly every sentence.  The book’s message (“friendship is great!”) is decent; the plot is choppy; the drawings will be a hit with younger children.  I can’t recommend this book unless your goal is to condition your child that books (book-objects, really) are fun.  It may not be much of a book, but it is solid marketing.