A great little book to flip through to teach little ones about minding their manners when receiving gifts. This 32-page mini hardcover is a speedy read, as the pages are filled mostly with simple pictures and not a lot of text.
A friend comes over to visit his buddy rolling a big blue suitcase full of the most perfect gifts he can think of to give someone who is very hard to shop for. The buddy proceeds to eat every gift he’s given as soon as he receives it, even the gift wrapped beautiful little green box is consumed before it’s even opened. There is a moment of panic when the buddy picks up his visitor friend and we aren’t sure if he’s going to be the next one to join the gifts in the gift receiver’s belly. Instead comically, he gives his friend a big thank you kiss and offers him a piping hot peppermint tea. All is well and the two happily sit down together to have a nice visit.
This is a very short read with a rough artistic style of drawings. Each page has the same style layout with a single full page square panel showing one sequential step in the story. The book is in full color, but has a simple color scheme of mostly blues, which works well to make things like the pink bow on the wrapped green gift really pop in comparison to the drab colors of his home.
Overall, this is a cute little story, and certainly a cute sized book. However, it really can be read in one to two minutes, it’s not dense in text, so it is very quick to flip through the story, even when reading through this with a small child. However, this could certainly be a useful tool to educate children on how to be polite when receiving gifts for any parent or the perfect lesson starter for a teacher. It’s short, simple, and has that little bit of humor that would be ideal for leading into a more serious discussion on sharing and gift giving. I would recommend it to be used as a tool to educate children rather than as a book to simply read through, and it would be best for the younger end of the recommended age range, unless it’s going to be used as a quick lesson starter (it would be an excellent resource for this).
Perfect Presents!
By Anke Kuhl
Gecko Press, 2023
ISBN: 9781776574995
Publisher Age Rating: 4-10
NFNT Age Recommendation: Picture Books (3-8)
