Official Review: My Little Birthday Princess

Please use this sub-forum to discuss both middle-grade and younger children's books, including picture books, easy readers, and children's chapter books. Topics for books aimed at children 12 and under go in this forum.
Forum rules
Authors and publishers are not able to post replies in the review topics.
Post Reply
User avatar
CataclysmicKnight
Posts: 912
Joined: 26 Jan 2015, 19:51
Favorite Book: Ready Player One
Currently Reading:
Bookshelf Size: 1693
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-cataclysmicknight.html
Latest Review: Simple Man Simple Message by Mark Dobosz

Official Review: My Little Birthday Princess

Post by CataclysmicKnight »

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "My Little Birthday Princess" by Dr. Beverly Boone.]
Book Cover
4 out of 4 stars
Share This Review


Birthdays are a special time, but that's even truer when someone is still very young or has come close to death. In My Little Birthday Princess, both are true of the birthday girl. Breanna is turning 8, and her father wakes her up early for some special alone time before he has to go to work. As they celebrate together, he thinks back to when she was born and how she nearly died. He then gives her a surprise gift, the two discuss religion, and a charming new phrase is taught to readers both young and old.

My Little Birthday Princess by Dr. Beverly Boone is a children's book aimed at kids around Breanna's age. This was my first big surprise: weighing in at 30 pages and full of illustrations, the book seems like it's for children who are younger. When I went into it, I kept making notes of what huge words the author used. For example, "Nonstop waves of giddiness and anticipation sprinkle Breanna's breakfast chatter as Mr. Mitchell listens attentively, providing every sentence with heartfelt gestures, nods, and laughter" is far too advanced for early readers, and may even be a bit advanced for third and fourth graders as well.

At the end of the book, the reason for this is made clear: this is more than a simple children's book. After the story ends, there are four pages of questions and activities. One of the first items is a vocabulary quiz, and in hindsight, this book is definitely an effective tool for learning new words! I can absolutely see a parent reading this book with their children to answer questions about the words used and do the activities and quizzes at the end together.

The story is full of themes as well. While birth and death may be obvious already, I particularly loved that the author showed readers a loving family. Breanna's father is a loving man who makes time for his children in addition to picking up extra shifts at work to make sure money is never an issue. Religion is also a big theme, with the family memorizing a Bible passage every week and Breanna's own birthday surprise having a Bible passage engraved on it. In fact, one particular piece from the Bible is mentioned repeatedly, and one of the questions at the end asks children to compare this book's story to the story from the Bible.

While I enjoyed the story far more once I realized it was for older kids, and the quizzes and activities at the end are terrific, I wasn't always a fan of the art. Some pieces are lovely, capturing a cartoony, cute vibe, but there's one image in particular where Breanna's eyes look weird. In addition to this, the way the illustrator handles people is a bit off. Sometimes lines on skin and clothes are a bit jagged, but it's done in a way that looks like part of an image is pixelated. It's like someone created a good base for the character and then, rather than entirely re-drawing the character, they resized or clipped them a bit to alter their position. This wouldn't be too terrible if it wasn't against backgrounds that are almost too clean and straight-lined, and this juxtaposition is very obvious at times. With this said, most of the images are okay overall, although none of them were particularly terrific.

I'd give My Little Birthday Princess 3.5 stars if I could, but I just can't bring myself to drop a star for artwork that could be better. If this was a book for young children I might, since the images are such a big part of those, but this book has a lot more going for it. I also only saw one error involving missing punctuation. And, best of all, the book introduces a terrific new use of the word "tiptoe" that's so wonderful it's worth a whole star in the rating alone. As such, I'm giving the book 4 out of 4 stars. If you're a Christian household and want to teach your kids vocabulary and about the themes including life, death, family togetherness, and responsibility, My Little Birthday Princess is a good choice.

******
My Little Birthday Princess
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Nothing is true, everything is permitted.
User avatar
Beccawaters
Posts: 1
Joined: 14 Jul 2019, 19:23
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by Beccawaters »

it was good for a little kids book. I have herd better could of used more details in it.
User avatar
Tehmina23
Posts: 2
Joined: 15 Jul 2019, 17:57
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by Tehmina23 »

Topic review: My little birthday princess
Everyone loves birthdays!! Whether it’s a kids or an adults birthday, birthdays are always special. No matter the time of the year or of the month birthdays bring joys to everyone’s lives. Especially towards parents because the meaning of birthdays to parents is the birth of their children,the light of their lives. However, In some cases it is also very true that birthdays also bring us closer to our deaths.
In my little birthday princess the father is very happy for his daughter‘s eighth birthday as he wakes her up to spend some quality time with her for This is the day that she came to his life. the father also thinks about the past when the daughter was born and she almost died while giving her a birthday surprise gift.
User avatar
rumik
Posts: 554
Joined: 21 Jun 2019, 10:37
Currently Reading:
Bookshelf Size: 32
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-rumik.html
Latest Review: Agartha by Jaylee Austin

Post by rumik »

Sounds like a wonderful wholesome little book full of good lessons for kids from Christian families. I'm quite curious about the usage of tiptoe now. Thanks for the review!
User avatar
Meg98
Posts: 566
Joined: 31 Mar 2019, 22:10
Currently Reading:
Bookshelf Size: 21
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-meg98.html
Latest Review: Finding A Job in Tough Times by Dr. Tim Johnson

Post by Meg98 »

This sounds like a cute story, with some great messages included. Thanks for this great review :)
Oh love, never be afraid to fly :wink2:
kdstrack
Previous Member of the Month
Posts: 6473
Joined: 10 May 2017, 19:49
Currently Reading: The Savior
Bookshelf Size: 530
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-kdstrack.html
Latest Review: How To Be Successful by M. Curtis McCoy

Post by kdstrack »

The birthday theme is always popular with children. Parents might like the quizzes, but I can see kids groaning! Great review!
Magnify3
Posts: 1109
Joined: 23 May 2019, 14:46
Currently Reading:
Bookshelf Size: 45
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-magnify3.html
Latest Review: Love, Grandma by Ann Morris

Post by Magnify3 »

Thank you for the review. It does sound like a good book for reading time with children. I am sure that it would be a great help to many.
Gathoni1991
Posts: 334
Joined: 23 Jan 2019, 13:36
Currently Reading: Elf Accord
Bookshelf Size: 52
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-gathoni1991.html
Latest Review: Illustrated Short Fiction of William H. Coles: 2000-2016 by William H. Coles

Post by Gathoni1991 »

Such a detailed review for a kid's book. Thumbs up. I would love my son to read this.
User avatar
Rissa4801
Posts: 1
Joined: 28 Jun 2019, 14:30
Currently Reading:
Bookshelf Size: 2

Post by Rissa4801 »

I like the book as it gotten closer to the end. It’s didn’t have much details as I would’ve thought it did based on the summary but it’s a children’s book, they don’t need as much detail to get the whole view point of the book. I’m big on reading book that talk about life, death, and losing someone from my career point. In the funeral home business we over look children and grief .
User avatar
Wisdom777
Posts: 5
Joined: 10 Jun 2018, 20:14
Currently Reading: It Strikes Again
Bookshelf Size: 8

Post by Wisdom777 »

What an amazing book ! Suitable for kids all over the world. It walks about different stages about a man's life and journey her on earth. A must read for kids gives them to understand life better.
User avatar
jasmine-louise
Posts: 71
Joined: 11 Aug 2019, 02:03
Currently Reading: The Book of God
Bookshelf Size: 49
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-jasmine-louise.html
Latest Review: Undead Redhead by Jen Frankel

Post by jasmine-louise »

This book sounds sweet, thanks for the review :)
Post Reply

Return to “Children's Books”