"Too Clever"

by Julia E. Antoine, illustrated by Frankniell Concepcion, YR, 2010, 64p, rating=2
Source: won from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer

Too Clever is the first in the series of the too clever kids. These are kids who are adventuresome, curious and inquisitive. They have very inquiring minds and are always looking for solutions to life’s many situations. They have their own ideas on how things should be, and will go to great lengths to prove a point, to learn a lesson or to accept the inevitable. Come meet them, and see how they go about trying to prove or disprove the obvious.(Goodreads)

This book has great potential.  The stories were charming but needed more follow through.  The idea of using characters that were autonomous was great but most of the adventures they went through weren't developed enough to really sustain my interest.  I did enjoy Megan's Troublesome Pronouns because that was a practical lesson.  Other than that, the stories in general didn't captivate me.

The presentation of the book as well needed some work.  The illustrations didn't appeal to me and the binding of the book was not attractive ..it wasn't like the usual picture book binding but like a soft book handout you'd get from a seminar.  I would not have picked this book up but the blurb did sound interesting.  Bummer that it wasn't.

Granted this is written for young readers but I think even they might find this book confusing at times.  Perhaps the author could concentrate on one story and develop it well.  She's got the right beginings ..she just needs to see it through in full bloom.  :)