The Heroes of Googley Woogley: My Review

If you have ever wondered what a children's book would look like if it was written and illustrated by a child; wonder no more. Dalton James, age seven, is the author and illustrator of The Heroes of Googley Woogley. The opening page introduces us to Rock Star Pete and his daddy, Rock Star James. They have lots of money so they use all their money to buy a spaceship. In the spaceship is a store that includes lots of candy. They go into space and find the planet Googley Woogley, which has two types of inhabitants: the good blue SooDos and the bad red SooDonts. There is a battle and Pete comes up with the idea of using chewed chewing gum to trap the SooDonts and Pete and his dad return to earth to become scientists.

The cover shown above is pretty representative of the style of the illustrations in the book. They are outlined in black marker and filled in with crayons. They clearly go with the story and are consistant throughout the story.

I have a five year old assistant who helps me review all children's books. This book and the other Dalton James book I received today from Dalton, via Bostick, held her attention while I read them to her, and when I asked her if she liked them she said "Yes". You'll note below that the reading level given for the book was ages 9-12. It has been a LONG time since I did a readability analysis and I long ago got rid of the directions for doing so, therefore I won't argue about the reading level as determined by the words used. However, I doubt this book would hold the attention of any 9-12 year old. Assuming the readability analysis was properly done, I suggest giving it to a 4-7 year old as a "read to me" book.

From Amazon.com:
Reading level: Ages 9-12

Paperback: 24 pages
Publisher: Outskirts Press (March 11, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1432727826
ISBN-13: 978-1432727826