Review: I'll
preface this review by saying that I don't really read children's books. I'm a
single guy, in my twenties, and have no real reason to pick up a children's
book. As part of my blog, I receive various requests to review books, many of
which I simply don't have time to read and review. When I was contacted about
reading Candy and the Cankersaur by author Jason Sandberg, I figured I would at
least be able to read the book quickly. And so I agreed, read the book in a few
minutes, and my review is as follows.
The story is of a young girl, Candy, who lives in a large mansion. She
has lots of toys, which she generously shares with other, and lives a seemingly
normal life. But beyond the toys and material objects, Candy mostly desires
more attention from her rich, busy father. As fathers often do in these types
of stories, Candy's dad tries to occupy the void in his daughter's life with
more stuff. In this instance, he buys her a rare dinosaur, Cankersaurus Rex.
Despite her initial fear of the creature, Candy trains the dinosaur,
nicknamed Cank, to be a pretty good pet. When Candy's neighbor Chucky see's the
animal, he is immediately filled with jealousy. He has a longstanding rivalry
with Candy, and realizes that his parents will never be able to top the gift of
Candy's father. He decides that if he can't have a pet dinosaur, then neither
can Candy. Chucky proceeds to steel Cank and sell him to the circus.
As all good children's books must, this story does end with a happy
ending. Chucky sees how Cank's disappearance makes Candy sad, and realizes his
mistake. The two then enlist the help of Candy's dad, who realizes his own
paternal mistakes, to help bring Cank home.
Despite not having any real authority on the genre, I do feel that
children, especially younger ones will enjoy this book. Even better, the adults
who read it to them won't feel tortured while reading it! As far as a kid's
book is concerned, this one has every element that is needed to keep a child's
attention. The bright pictures, reminiscent of those by cartoonist Syd Hoff (do
a quick search of his name and see if nostalgia doesn't kick in), are both
visually vibrant and a great visual aid to the words. The text is large and
easily to read. Better still, the story teaches a lesson about the intangible
things in life that are more important than material possessions. And finally,
there is a dinosaur! What six-year-old boy doesn't like dinosaurs? Overall, this
is a quick read that both kids and parents should enjoy.
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