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All About April : Our Little Girl Grows Up!: A For Better or For Worse Special Edition

All About April : Our Little Girl Grows Up!: A For Better or For Worse Special Edition

List Price: $10.95
Your Price: $8.76
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: APRIL IS A LIABILITY
Review: "For Better or For Worse" has been my favorite strip for years. Lynn Johnston has raised the bar in cartoon standards and her realistic strip with sympathetic, believable (save for April) characters remains nonpareil.

I never liked April. She has a very fresh mouth and a nasty attitude. A sneaky, spoiled brat April never helps around the house, destroys her sister's property and has never once taken responsibility for her behavior or been punished. Her babyish speech long after infancy (e.g. "gots") does not make her an appealing character; the lastest April themed story line involving her and a bully named Jeremy further point up how nasty April really is. She makes up a vile, mean spirited song about Jeremy and in effect is asking for it. She has yet to be held accountable for her behavior. April is just a brat. I just can't like her.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A most engaging little girl
Review: April is such a typical little girl and it is such fun to see her grow up on Lynn Johnston's books. I raised two little girls myself and I see them over and over in reading April's adventures (and misadventures!) Her relationship with her Grandpa is a wonderful one and is movingly drawn out by Lynn Johnston. It has been a great ride seeing April and all the Patterson's grow up in so many ways. Hope it keeps on forever! Many Thanks, Lynn Johnston.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A most engaging little girl
Review: April is such a typical little girl and it is such fun to see her grow up on Lynn Johnston's books. I raised two little girls myself and I see them over and over in reading April's adventures (and misadventures!) Her relationship with her Grandpa is a wonderful one and is movingly drawn out by Lynn Johnston. It has been a great ride seeing April and all the Patterson's grow up in so many ways. Hope it keeps on forever! Many Thanks, Lynn Johnston.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A holding pattern but nice
Review: Die-hard fans will find this a necessary purchase even if a little redundant. The strips, which offer the highlights of April's life from birth to age ten, have all been previously published, but there is new commentary and a wistful nostalgia that will have strong appeal to those who have been following the characters in this comic-verite for so many years.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: APRIL IS A WONDERFUL ADDITION
Review: Like Elly in the strip I found myself with an unexpected pregnancy at the tender age of 38. My kids were teens, my husband and I were looking forward to getting back to just us and here we were, starting over. It's been wonderful, a real blessing and we are delighted with how things turned out. To those of you who dislike this cartoon character (read: cartoon) don't read the strip. I relate strongly to this strip, and feel like Ms. Johnson is writing my situation, but still I never lose sight of the fact that it's pretend. And even in pretend, nobody is perfect.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An Appreciation Amongst the Criticism
Review: One can't take a comic completely seriously, even if you're a fan like me. Even so, "All About April" is a wonderful retrospective of a character that is very realistic and charming.

Too many of these reviews have focused on how "bratty" April is, and how "babyish" her speach is. Obviously, these folks either haven't children of their own, never been around children for any length of time, or read the strip as long as I have. Children are, for a lack of a better word, brats. They can be mean, babyish, cruel, and vicious. They are also wonderful, loving, caring and intelligent. April is all these things. She's spoiled by her parents, but also disciplined when she does wrong. She's babyish on occasions, but very wise on others. She was vindictive to Jeremy, but it was the only way for her to strike back. And she didn't abandon him when he needed someone, like most adults would have in her place.

All in all, April has been a great balance for "For Better or For Worse." "All About April" is a wonderful retrospective on her and, when added to "Remembering Farley" and "The Lives Behind The Lines," gives us a better picture of the creative process in Johnston's world. I can't wait for the retrospectives on Michael, Elizabeth, and even Elly and John. I hope they'll be done, at least.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An Appreciation Amongst the Criticism
Review: One can't take a comic completely seriously, even if you're a fan like me. Even so, "All About April" is a wonderful retrospective of a character that is very realistic and charming.

Too many of these reviews have focused on how "bratty" April is, and how "babyish" her speach is. Obviously, these folks either haven't children of their own, never been around children for any length of time, or read the strip as long as I have. Children are, for a lack of a better word, brats. They can be mean, babyish, cruel, and vicious. They are also wonderful, loving, caring and intelligent. April is all these things. She's spoiled by her parents, but also disciplined when she does wrong. She's babyish on occasions, but very wise on others. She was vindictive to Jeremy, but it was the only way for her to strike back. And she didn't abandon him when he needed someone, like most adults would have in her place.

All in all, April has been a great balance for "For Better or For Worse." "All About April" is a wonderful retrospective on her and, when added to "Remembering Farley" and "The Lives Behind The Lines," gives us a better picture of the creative process in Johnston's world. I can't wait for the retrospectives on Michael, Elizabeth, and even Elly and John. I hope they'll be done, at least.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: All About Little Missy Princess April
Review: She was such a preciousy cutesy-woo little girl-whelpie designed to take over the "mischievous" antics of the late Calvin & Hobbes. But she actually annoyed me more than she manipulated "ooh's" and "ahh's" out of me, which is zero anyway. But now that she's no longer an infant lost in her own fantasyland, she's turning into a snooty tween-aged bimbo with a casual disregard for anything around her. So - it's time for Meredith, her big brother's offspring with bright blue eyes, sunny-golden ringlets, and pillow-like pink lips to replace her and continue to annoy us with her cutesy-wiggy "spoiled brat" ways for many, many years to come. Not to mention the fact little Meredith would, too turn into another "Bratz" doll, if the artist lives long enough, that is.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: All About Little Missy Princess April
Review: She was such a preciousy cutesy-woo little girl-whelpie designed to take over the "mischievous" antics of the late Calvin & Hobbes. But she actually annoyed me more than she manipulated "ooh's" and "ahh's" out of me, which is zero anyway. But now that she's no longer an infant lost in her own fantasyland, she's turning into a snooty tween-aged bimbo with a casual disregard for anything around her. So - it's time for Meredith, her big brother's offspring with bright blue eyes, sunny-golden ringlets, and pillow-like pink lips to replace her and continue to annoy us with her cutesy-wiggy "spoiled brat" ways for many, many years to come. Not to mention the fact little Meredith would, too turn into another "Bratz" doll, if the artist lives long enough, that is.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A great life!
Review: This book is a well done review of the life of a little girl and his family as seen on your daily newspaper on the last 10 years. The life of April and her family is quite real and fun. The dynamics of the family as a group of individuals is resumed in an extraordinary way.

For those who already knew April and her family is a very pleasant book, like a family book full of memories. For those how are new to this family its a great chance to enter on this universe.


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