Author: Holly Anna
Illustrator: Genevieve Santos
© Date: 2018
Publisher: Little Simon
Pages: 119
Chapters: Yes
Illustrations: Yes, every page layout has an illustration
Publisher Recommended Age: 5-9 years old
Bonus Activities at End of Book: No, but a sneak peek at the next book in the series
Summary from Book: You know those machines outside of almost every grocery store ever that have plastic bubbles filled with toys, stickers, and bouncy balls? Of course you do! Well, guess what? In the World of Make-Believe, those bubbles are really real creatures, and those machines are where they live! Oh, but there’s one tiny problem. A big old giant is “borrowing” the bubble friends, just like we treat the toys in the real world. Looks like Posey and I are going on another adventure to save those bubbles before they go pop!
Note: This review is done from memory. I originally read this a short bit ago.
Page Pig Thoughts: This one looked like it should be rather cute, but I didn’t find it overly exciting overall. The idea of a vending machine toy being torn between going back to its vending machine best friend, or staying with the “giant” that it befriends is an interesting idea. Calling a child that wants to play with a toy a giant and making it appear that desire to have a toy friend is a bad thing is also interesting. Overall, some parts were cute, but overall this one was a meh.
I felt like I was missing some back story, which makes sense because this is book #8 in the series. Since I was a little confused throughout the story, I think this series might be best read as close to in order as possible. A confusion example: in the opening chapters, Posey the imaginary friend is causing some chaos in the grocery store. I was not sure if those things are actually happening in the store or not, but maybe that was explained in previous books.
The story seemed to have some disconnects in the writing. Some chapters mention the World of Make-Believe. Some chapters mention going to WOM. I am guessing they are the same thing, but I was not sure how clear that would be for a reader. Seems like there was at least one other disconnect, but I don’t remember now.
The main character uses the word “obviously” frequently. Not uncommonly, that makes her seem snarky or like a know-it-all. Maybe it is intended to be age appropriate language for a child, but I was not a fan.
Other Books in Series (At Time of Posting):
- Twelve books are in this series