1 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
Paper Sack and Bag Man! by Portia McGowan Green is a children’s book. It tells the story of two friends that want jobs.
Bag Man wants to go with Paper Sack to Washington Apple. In order to get there they have to take the train. In order to take the train they need money. Bag Man realizes he needs a job. He remembers seeing a job-opening sign in the window of Lemon Lane Grocery. He goes into the store, fills out an application, and interviews for a job. What about Paper Sack? Will he also get a job? Will they be good at their jobs? Will they meet new people?
I will tell you right off, I really did not enjoy this book. I got the paper copy and intended to give it to my niece to read once I finished. That will not be happening now, mostly because of all the errors riddling this book. Commas are missing where they should be and added where they shouldn’t be. Words are needlessly capitalized. There are careless mistakes like, “5’oclock.”
Even if all the mistakes were fixed, I still would not enjoy this book. At first glance, there is a lot of text for a children’s book. The story has too many needless details. For example, Bag Man meets Mr. Broccoli when he enters Lemon Lane Grocery. We’re told what Mr. Broccoli looks like and what he’s holding, but all Mr. Broccoli does is walk Bag Man to the supervisor then walk away, never to be seen again. In a simple children’s book like this, we don’t need to read about every little thing. It makes the story drag on. Sadly, this story didn’t really have a plot or a story arc. The story starts out with Bag Man and Paper Sack wanting to go on a trip. I thought that would lend nicely to a beginning, middle, and end story. Unfortunately, this is more of a series of events described.
There are illustrations in this book but they don’t look particularly professional. Some of them are even fuzzy. The characters’ expressions and stances don’t change from each page. Some of the pictures are mirror images so that the characters look like they are facing a different direction, but they are all just copy-and-paste versions of the same illustrations, sometimes with props added to make them look different.
Unfortunately, I have to rate this book 1 out of 4 stars. The storyline, illustrations, and editing fell short of my expectations.
******
Paper Sack and Bag Man
View: on Bookshelves
Like bb587's review? Post a comment saying so!
