Book reviews are a great way for self-publishing authors to gain exposure. After all, how can someone buy your book if he or she doesn’t know it exists? Paired with other elements of your book promotion strategy, requesting reviews is a great way to get people talking about what you’ve written.
When we read good reviews, we definitely like to share them. It gives the author a few (permanent) moments of fame and allows us to let the community know about a great book. Here’s this week’s book review, courtesy of Penny Minding Mom:
The Bird That Didn’t Want To Be A Bird
by Anne Toole
Publisher: Outskirts Press
ISBN: 978-1478756378
Synopsis:
Little bird wanted something else to be, Instead of a bird in a tree. He knew what he had to do, so off he flew, to search for another kind of animal he would rather be. Read the story and you shall see, which animal he chose to be. Read the story and you shall see.
Critique:
Have you ever wished to be someone else? In today’s world of social media it seems that everyone is putting their “best self” forward. It’s all to easy to become jealous and wish to be someone else…even if it’s just for a little while! We have to step back and remember that we are exactly who we need to be!
“The Bird That Didn’t Want To Be A Bird” by Anne Toole, is the story of a little bird who doesn’t want to be a bird. He dreams of being something else…anything but a bird. Little bird goes off on a journey to find out exactly what kind of animal he would rather be. Which animal will he choose?
“The Bird That Didn’t Want To Be A Bird” has an important message for us all about self acceptance. It’s all to easy to believe that being someone else would make us happier. As little bird explores the world about him, he soon learns that all those things he once thought so wonderful about everyone else just weren’t the things that would make him happy. Just like little bird, we need to look closely about the things we “think” we need to be happy. What makes someone else happy, just might not be the thing that is perfect for us.
The illustrations are adorable, full of bright colours. The text is easily read. The book is written in rhyme but I did find that some of the “rhymes” just didn’t work when I read the story aloud to the kids.
The kids and I started a conversation about the things we love and the things that we don’t like so much about ourselves. We talked about what to do about those things that we really dislike ourselves. Are they things we can change? How do we work towards changing while still loving ourselves for who we are? We discovered that some of the things we think are our faults are those very things that someone else loves about us.
“The Bird That Didn’t Want To Be A Bird” is a great story for children of all ages about loving ourselves. For more information on this book check out Outskirts Press.
[ reviewed on Penny Minding Mom ]
Here’s what other reviewers are saying:
Children all dream of what they want to be when they grow up. Some want to be firefighters, others imagine being sports stars or actors. Playing make-believe is a great way to try out different roles, and so are looking at characters in stories and TV shows or movies. This particular story shows a little bird who has decided that he doesn’t want to be a bird, even though his mother tells him that a bird is what he is meant to be. So he explores the area and checks out the other creatures, trying to find one that he would enjoy spending the rest of his life in their place.
As older readers will guess, there is no other life that would suit the little bird better than the one he already has. Human beings have a lot more choices open to them than animals, obviously, but trying to be something you’re not is still something we have to deal with. Developing a sense of identity and being comfortable “in the skin you’re in” is a life skill we all need. The story is told in rhyme and supported with brightly colored illustrations. Some of the wording may seem a bit awkward to adult readers, but the target audience of beginning readers will probably not notice.
Author Anne Toole was a first grade teacher and ESOL instructor before she began writing children’s books. She understands the issues that children deal with on a daily basis – making friends, what makes them special, fitting in, etc. This is the type of story that parents, teachers, and guidance counselors can read with a child (or a group), and then discuss the moral of the story.
– Amazon Reviewer Suzanne R. Costner
A rhyming book about being happy with who you are. A young bird tells his mother he does not want to be a bird. So he ventures out into the world to explore being a different animal. What he finds out is that every animal has positive qualities he likes but they also have qualities that do not suit him well. In the end he decides that being a bird is what is best for him. The book is easy to read and filled with dolch sight words for emergent readers.
– Amazon reviewer Yvonne Mullen
Thanks for reading! Keep up with the latest in the world of indie and self-published books by watching this space every Saturday!
Self Publishing Advisor
Self Publishing Advisor 