The Yellow Balloon

Rating:
Summary: Luscious pictures
Review: This is to rebut the previous review. Based on that review, I scanned our library copy carefully before checking it out. I found the book delightful and immediately shared it with my children. Some of the "objectionable" pictures are subjectively interepreted--for instance, where the previous reviewer saw an insane man dressed as batman, I merely saw as Batman himself (supported by the fact that if one looks carefully at the pictures, you can also find Little Red Riding Hood and Mary Poppins). I found the nude beach (less than one inch square) but completely missed the "children spying on naked people." The ghosts are teeny and cute. And so on. My children loved looking for the common elements in each beautiful picture. As in any book, look it over yourself and decide if you want your kids to see it. There ARE three or four impaled men in one scene, though, like every other element they are very small. I felt that these tiny images did not detract from a beautiful book.

Rating:
Summary: Evil, digusting, and inappropriate for children!
Review: While your child is looking for the yellow balloon on each page of this seemingly innocent book, he or she will also find:

- a young man on roller skates in the process of being shot in the chest by two thugs

- an insane man, dressed as Batman, attempting to jump off of a skyscraper

- an apartment building on fire with horrified people trying to jump out of the windows

- four dead people lying on the ground who have been impaled by swords

- children peeking over a rock to stare at naked people sprawled out on a nude beach

- a group of witches sacrificing who-knows-what on a bonfire

- eight ghosts hovering around an abandoned castle, and two children lost in the woods nearby

- a capsized ship, people overboard in icy water, and no help in sight

- many other adult images that you may not want your preschool-aged children (or even older children) to be exposed to

It's a cute idea for a children's picture book, but why spoil it with adult themes? I have not looked at other books by this author, but if they are anything like this one, beware!