More brick and mortar sightings:
–The Boswell Book Company, Milwaukee
–Politics & Prose, Washington DC
–Orca Books, Olympia, Washington
The book has previously been seen at:
–Powell’s, Portland Oregon
–Moe’s, Berkeley
–City Lights, San Francisco
I’ve been a customer and/or a speaker at four out of six of those stores myself, and they are among my favorite bookstores in the world.
Meanwhile on the internets, the five-star reviews are piling up on Amazon:
Our 4-year-old has totally fallen for this book – requesting it nearly every night since we got it a couple weeks ago. She almost knows every word by heart now – we watched her “read” it to a younger friend and she hardly missed a single word. Great message, silly story and Tom Tomorrow’s wonderful drawings and sense of the absurd. It is not preachy or didactic at all…just all around good advice to speak up when something doesn’t make sense, told in a lighthearted manner.
* * *
I ordered this book for my almost-four-year-old and she absolutely adores it. When it is time for bed, my daughter picks out the book that she wants mommy and/or daddy to read to her. I read The Very Silly Mayor to her when I first received it and since then, she has picked that book more than any other. Last night when she picked The Very Silly Mayor to read at bedtime, she said she likes it because it “really makes me laugh a lot”. She loves Blinky, the very nice dog who always has something nice to say or he doesn’t say anything at all, and of course, how can you not love Sparky?
This is not a political book but it does introduce young minds to the concept of governance as it deals with a mayor that has some very silly ideas about how to govern his medium-sized city (putting out fires with peanut butter?!). It deals with peer pressure and the overarching lesson from the book is that just because everyone seems to think something is a good idea doesn’t necessarily mean that it is. It encourages critical thinking and speaking your mind even if you think people might laugh at you. It also encourages the idea of questioning authority, all of which are lessons that I hope my daughter will take with her.
I can only hope that this is the first of many Tom Tomorrow kids books, I will buy them all. I cannot recommend this book enough, it is a fun book with some great lessons that don’t include a princess waiting for her prince.