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uderecife's review against another edition
1.0
It’s kind of unfair for me, an adult, to be too harsh on my judgement on a children’s book. However, I think this work has some issues that, in a way, kind of defeat the purpose of honoring the title this book has.
First, I want to point out that the artwork, Ricardo Cortés illustrations, are interesting by themselves. They contribute in a positive way to the child-like quality of the book. That’s not an issue with the book. What really bothered me (and maybe bothered is a too much strong of a word) is the narrative driving the point behind the title.
Don’t take me wrong: I think it’s a very honorable goal to defend how cannabis is perceived, and how unjustly it has been treated during the last century by the American political elites (and consequently the world). Nonetheless, where this book fails is in its attempt to make a grown-up issue into a child-like narrative. The result is not a tale for children, but a a grown-up attempt to make a child story from everyday facts surrounding grown-up problems with not being able to use marijuana.
To put it differently: this book doesn’t make the marijuana issues relatable to a child. Grown-ups world is a very complicated world. Any child, curious as children are, with no difficulty will find many contradictions and nonsensical issues in how grown-ups deal with their worlds. So it’s kind of obvious that you can pick any one of those issues and point out how contradictory and nonsensical they are. However, this doesn’t make a very good children’s tale.
So what disappointed me upon reading this book was the lack of creativity (on the story part, mind you) in promoting a dreamscape of sorts where cannabis and its issues would be the center and the starting point for a child to change its outlook on what cannabis is and how it is treated.
Before I sound too harsh on my criticism, and in order to take the point home, I’ll return to the beginning of this critique. I’m an adult, and by that measure I’m not the best judge of a children’s book. My issues with this work are more grounded in my disappointment by seeing here a lost opportunity in making this a more interesting book, both to the child and for the parent/relative seeking an insightful take on the issue.
Is it worth to pick it up and read it for the child? Is it worth for the child to read it? Can’t really say. Judging by the title, it seems to me that either the parent or the child will be kind of disappointed if they think it’s “a children’s story about marijuana”. Maybe it would deserve a better rating if it was treated as it really is, a story about parents having to explain to their child how weird grown-ups treat the marijuana plant.
emeelee's review against another edition
2.0
An interesting idea, and I can appreciate the intent behind this book, but unfortunately I think the execution is a flop. I thought this book would be more on the nonfiction side, but instead it's a story of a child learning what marijuana is over the course of a day. The book doesn't contain any actual stats, laws, or medical information, and there's no "further reading" section at the back. As a story, it was pretty boring, and some weird choices were made. (For no discernible reason, the story takes place on Halloween, though this is only evident in the fact that the little girl and her mother are in costumes while they bike around the city learning about weed. As an added bonus, the little girl's costume is just generalized "Asian clothing"-- I know this is an older title, but you'd think since this is an "updated" edition they would have ditched the cultural appropriation.)
I think this concept could work as a nonfiction book with reputable sources of information, but as-is I don't find it useful. 1.5 stars
Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this eARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review!
I think this concept could work as a nonfiction book with reputable sources of information, but as-is I don't find it useful. 1.5 stars
Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this eARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review!
dori_mondon's review against another edition
5.0
LOOOOOVE this book. I had one of the original copies, and sadly it was ruined by Greyhound shipping (don't *ever* use them) in route from Portland, Oregon to New Mexico. Ricardo was kind enough to dig up another copy from the original hardcover series and send it to me, this time inscribed to both me and my daughter-in-utero.
There's a fundraising campaign to raise enough money to produce the third edition of this book - check out this url at Kickstarter to participate!
There's a fundraising campaign to raise enough money to produce the third edition of this book - check out this url at Kickstarter to participate!
aemy's review
4.0
Actually very sweet,very colorful, something I can definitely see buying for friend when they have kids. Informative and kind of revolutionary at the same time. Walks kids through the uses, history and laws surrounding marijuana: written with with an eye towards how it should only be used responsibly by adults and that the laws surrounding marijuana are primarily political in motivation instead of being motivated by people's health of best interest.
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