4 stars
| I recently read Thomas & Friends Really Useful Stories: Take Your Turn! and was really disappointed by it. After that, I wasn’t sure how this one would go. But I work with a kid who really loves Thomas, so I picked it up from the library. This one was actually very good. In this one, Thomas doesn’t want to share with Percy, but in the end, they come up with a solution that makes both on them happy. One thing I liked about this book was the idea of trading. Often sharing is very difficult for children. A good beginning step is learning to trade something so that both parties are happy. Good way of working through a problems together. I also liked how Thomas tried to compromise (even though he started out pretty selfish). The characters did well trying to figure out a way to solve the problem that worked for both of them. I also liked the number of females in the book. The reason I didn’t like Take Your Turn was that there was one female and she only had one line, despite being a major character in the story. This one has three female characters and each of them has a least one line. One of the characters also has a major role in problem solving. Good illustrations. I especially liked that the characters are not always smiling. Good representation of a few basic emotions, especially mad. At the end of the book is a section on shared reading and a few suggested questions to ask children while reading the book together. Glad I read this one. Much better than Take Your Turn. Good message and incorporation of female characters. Goodreads |