By Dustin Cabeal

In my humble opinion children’s books can be difficult to review. The very intention of the book is to entertain children and so how does an adult objectively review such material. You could simply have a child review the book, but they’re fickle and swing back and forth on little things like using the bathroom. Usually asking them if they like something is meet with, “yes” whether it’s true or not.

In my time as a reviewer, I have found one method that works. It is my own experience as a parent that informs this method and results, but it has proven to be an effective one. Repeat reading. For example, I have lost track of how many times I have read Goodnight Train because I began reading it to my son around 2 years old, three or four times a day. Never at bedtime mind you, no, that would be too easy and perfect. This is something that carries on today and you could argue its all in how you read the story which is why I seek to make each story as fun as possible on that first go through.

There’s an N on your Nose lends itself to fun by having adorable animals on every page. The art is crisp and vibrant. Each animal being very recognizable and dare I say internet sweethearts. The catch is that there’s not much for the art to do. It’s almost hidden behind the balloon style letters that are on the page, which end up making it feel as if the letters were more important than the animals.

The story is simple enough as it’s all in the title, There’s an N on your Nose. Followed by a T on your toes and so forth. They all have a sing-songy rhyming feel except for when they don’t. As I read it to my son, he wanted to guess each body part that was next, which added a layer of enjoyment. Until we got to the end. The story just putters off at the end. It breaks its own mold and as we finished reading, he seemed unconvinced that it was in fact over. We continued on to our second story of the evening and when given the option to go back to this book for a second time, he declined. It seems as if he only had the interest in guessing the next body part and after he had done that he was done with the book. Several nights later we are still reading the other book introduced that night, but when There’s an N on Your Nose is offered, he continues to decline. While this may only be true for my child, I think that is something every parent is aware of when buying a book. Some of the books I dislike reading are in fact his favorite, but when neither party is interested, that’s saying something about the story.

My main issue is that there is a very rhythmic poem at the start of the book almost as a dedication, but then the same level of effort isn’t put into the rhymes in the story. Some of the pages feel forced and clunky. That and the art never feels like the star. It barely feels like it’s contributing to the story aside from cute animal depictions.

This last bit is just a personal annoyance, but why did the elephant have cracked glasses? Why did they keep wearing them after that? I didn’t really understand that because its very noticeable, almost distracting even and yet it’s shown at least twice during the story. Furthermore we see a box of cracked glasses as well… what is this elephant doing to their glasses? It would have been nice if the art was telling a cohesive story with the writing instead of adding personality quirks to silent characters. Without thinking this minor detail adds a tremendous backstory to an elephant with E’s on its ears and eyes.

While the book is pleasant at first glance, there’s not a lot here to warrant a read or a purchase. Perhaps a very young toddler would get into it, but it’s not like it’s a complete alphabet book or even a strong contender to teach anatomy. It covers the basics, which is that same thing I would say about this story… basic.