Review: The Central Park Tales by Marcus Meesters

SUMMARY FROM NETGALLEY.COM:

The Central Park Tales is a delightful children's book about the adventures of the animals that live in Central Park. It contains 10 short stories with 60 beautiful color illustrations. The main characters are Squirrel, Duck, Frog, Mousekin and the brothers Doctor Beggar (Dog) and Mister Pup (Dog). Because many of the illustrations depict real places in Central Park, the book is especially appealing to children who live in New York City. The Central Park Tales is also available as an eBook.

MY TAKE:

I love New York and my toddler loves animals, so I felt that this was a win-win book for us to read.

In The Central Park Tales, readers follow the adventures of a group of animals that live in Central Park.

The book's narrative style reminded me a bit of The Wind in the Willows, especially when paired with the illustrations. I love a good watercolor illustration, and there are plenty of those here. The drawings are very pretty, and they kinda reminded me of the illustrations in Winnie the Pooh books.

The ten stories here are stand-alone, but are labeled from Chapter One to Ten, and center around the same group of characters. Of the characters in the book, my favorite were Striped Tail Raccoon and Mister Pup. Striped Tail is a little bit grumpy but he's the lovable kind of grumpy. Mister Pup, on the other hand, is a cutie and reminds me of my son.

If you're looking for a fun book to read at night to your child, this one is a good choice.

Thanks to NetGalley and BookBaby for the e-copy.

THE GOOD:

1. The illustrations are beautiful.
2. The characters are lovable.
3. The stories are great for bedtime reading.

THE BAD:

1. The stories are probably a bit too long for early readers to read on their own.

READ IT IF:

1. Your child loves animals.
2. You and your child love walking through Central Park.
3. You are looking for a book you can read to your child.

RATING:

SOUNDS INTERESTING?

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