This book is about a meerkat in a zoo. The meerkat looks left, straight, right, straight. He notices the animals in all directions: a lion, monkey and bear. He sees all the character traits in these animals that he wishes he had himself. However, when a shadow comes, he alerts them to the potential danger. While he is busy wishing he were all the other animals, all the other animals are wishing they were he. They notice the skills he has that they don’t.
We did not like this book. My children have had me read it a couple times, but I have to really push them to read it. Until I read the explanation of what was going on, I didn’t understand that the meerkat was looking around. The book was very disjointed and hard to follow. While the blurb about this book said it taught kids to appreciate their own talents, I didn’t see that at all. It seemed to me that the book just taught kids to envy other’s gifts. There was no resolution at the end where the meerkat realized he had talents himself that others wanted. This book left a lot to be desired.
I Wish I Were a… By Werner Holzwarth URL: http://www.skyponypress.com Price: About $17 on Amazon| Readability | 4 |
| Quality of Illustrations | 4 |
| Kept My Children’s Interest | 3 |
| Appealed to Boys and Girls |
4 |
| I Would Purchase for My Child | No |
| I Would Purchase as a Gift | No |
| Overall Rating |
3 |
All ratings on a scale of 1 (low) to 5 (high).
Meet the Reviewer!
Jennifer Flora is a stay-at-home mom to a 4-year–old daughter and a 2 ½-year–old son. When she is not chasing them around, she enjoys reading and couponing.
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