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A review by versmonesprit
Dewdrop by K. O'Neill
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
1.0
I need O’Neill to understand that shading is not the enemy. No matter how cute the illustrations are, without shading they are giving corporate flat and nothing else. That’s not good, especially when the children’s book is clearly intended for very, very young ones — essentially, toddlers.
There’s nothing wrong about that, I have a soft spot for children’s books because I grew up with lovely ones, and they’re to credit for my lifelong love of reading! But toddler books have a very specific demand, and that is what I can best describe as drama.
Toddlers are yet to learn about the world, so when a book about overcoming self-doubt through a caring, cheering friend does not have BIG, exaggerated emotions and moments, the subtlety will be lost on them.
First and foremost, the visuals have to strike! They’re what the child will be captivated by while their caregiver reads and enacts the story. Here, the colour contrast is so low, the characters blend into the background. Having a cohesive, atmospheric colour palette is good for older readers, but at least use shading to add depth and isolate the important elements when it comes to a book for toddlers!
And yes, a caregiver will add their own sound effects while reading to the toddler, but it still helps to add some fun onomatopoeia yourself! Why would you want to miss out on the chance anyway? It’s entertaining! Cutting both the sounds and the scenes as short gives very little for the adult to work with!
And that’s what the entirety of the book suffers too: there’s nowhere near enough exaggeration in self-doubt, in the cheering, and in the regaining of confidence. How can the toddler process these sentiments when they’re told in such a subdued manner? Again, yes, the caregiver can act it out with more emotion, but are you really giving enough material to work with? The answer is unfortunately no.
I really did want to love this, but it feels like a draft that has more room for improvement than existing material.
There’s nothing wrong about that, I have a soft spot for children’s books because I grew up with lovely ones, and they’re to credit for my lifelong love of reading! But toddler books have a very specific demand, and that is what I can best describe as drama.
Toddlers are yet to learn about the world, so when a book about overcoming self-doubt through a caring, cheering friend does not have BIG, exaggerated emotions and moments, the subtlety will be lost on them.
First and foremost, the visuals have to strike! They’re what the child will be captivated by while their caregiver reads and enacts the story. Here, the colour contrast is so low, the characters blend into the background. Having a cohesive, atmospheric colour palette is good for older readers, but at least use shading to add depth and isolate the important elements when it comes to a book for toddlers!
And yes, a caregiver will add their own sound effects while reading to the toddler, but it still helps to add some fun onomatopoeia yourself! Why would you want to miss out on the chance anyway? It’s entertaining! Cutting both the sounds and the scenes as short gives very little for the adult to work with!
And that’s what the entirety of the book suffers too: there’s nowhere near enough exaggeration in self-doubt, in the cheering, and in the regaining of confidence. How can the toddler process these sentiments when they’re told in such a subdued manner? Again, yes, the caregiver can act it out with more emotion, but are you really giving enough material to work with? The answer is unfortunately no.
I really did want to love this, but it feels like a draft that has more room for improvement than existing material.