Saturday, October 17, 2015

BOOK REVIEW # 2015-129 - PATTY CAKES and the STOLEN BALL

The best kind of children’s books I love to read/review are the ones which teaches its young readers important life lesson in an entertaining manner, while at the same time doesn’t hit its readers over the head with the lesson.

Patricia Lowry or Patty Cakes as she’s known to her friends is a sweet girl who unfortunately has the tendency to be blame for things she didn’t do. Being a child of the 1950’s, this became somewhat nostalgic for me as I remembered watch a TV series segment of the Mickey Mouse Club entitled “Annette” in which Annette Funicello played a country bumpkin living with her upperclass relatives. She gets picked on by her classmates and at a party gets accused a stealing an expensive necklace worn by her school’s most liked and admired girl during a party, which ruined her existence. At the end of this series, several months later, at another party, the necklace is finally found when someone is asked to play a song which had been played at the first party. The girl who had blamed Annette for the theft apologize, and the two became good friends.

When Patty’s brother, Thomas, loses his “treasured” lacrosse ball naturally she’s the one who gets blamed for its disappearance. An interesting thing is, Patty seems to be able to skillfully reduce serious problems when she’s faced with them. However, she apparently can’t do the same when it involves him. Needless to say, at the end of the story the missing lacrosse ball is found in a place no one seemed to bother to look previously.

Ms. Carr’s simplistic writing style in this book, reminds me of the Dick and Jane reader I read in first grade, which lends itself perfectly to the way many children talk amongst themselves and brings them into the story and the important lesson it attempts to communicate.

For the reasons I’ve attempted to address in the above, I’m happy to give this book 5 STARS.




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