In this interactive and engaging read-aloud, bestselling author and award-winning artist Patrick McDonnell creates a funny, engaging, and almost perfect story about embracing life's messes.
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful.
Funny funny funny.....and cute....and inspiring.
By J.Prather
A Perfectly Messed-Up Story is a delightful testament to perseverance and the importance of maintaining a positive outlook even when things aren't going your way. More important than all of that though is the fact that this book is just flat out funny. Laugh out loud funny. Patrick McDonnell has proven time and time again that he fully understands the concept of whimsy, but he takes it to a new level with this messy little interactive book.Little Louie is eager to tell his story, but things just aren't going as planned. Whether it's a plop of jelly, or a smear of peanut butter (chunky kind!) that lands on his head, Louie just keeps getting interrupted. Fingerprints and scribbles magically appear on the page as Louie addresses the reader directly, telling him that "we need to show some respect here. Books are important. They teach us stuff and They inspire us." That part touched my heart.We never get to read Louie's story, but that's okay, since we do get to find out that no matter how many jelly stains plop in your book, you can still go singing merrily along. The story is told via Louie's hilarious, over the top dramatic reactions that are portrayed in dialogue bubbles. I'm still not sure if I could make this work in story time, but I do know that this is a must read for any preschooler. It has a great message, McDonnell's illustrations are as charming and expressive as ever, and it will give you a great opportunity to share a hearty laugh with your child. Great stuff.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful.Delightful, funny, and memorable tale about when things aren't perfect
By James Korsmo
This is a delightfully funny story. My kids (seven and four) love it. There is always a lot of laughter. Louie is a simple but delightful main character. He is greatly upset when his story is ruined by careless intrusions (such as peanut butter and jelly being spilled on his pages) from outside. The story restarts, only to be marred once again. Louie's frustration leads him to quit (what parent hasn't encountered that phenomenon), so he sits out the third telling of the story (my kids love this part). But he realizes in the end that, despite the truly frustrating intrusions and the resulting imperfections of his story, everything is fine. In fact, it all turns out pretty good.The illustrations are outstanding, and the realism of the "intrusions" (fingerprints, spilled orange juice, etc.) are perfect. Kids can even participate (on one page a paper towel is rubbed on some scribbles, for instance). And underneath the delightfully entertaining story, there is a really key lesson, that we need to learn to go on even when things aren't perfect, and in fact even less than ideal things can turn out just fine and still be satisfying. I know my kids need to learn this lesson, and I hope this book provides a subtle but memorable influence in that direction.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful.Hilarious and adorable winner!
By lovetoread
A winner! Everyone agrees this is hilarious--especially our 4 1/2 year old granddaughter! She finds something new every time she reads this book and loves relating it to her own messy life. Adorable illustrations and unique style.
