Children's Book Review: Trockle by Holly Jahangiri

Trockle

Author: Holly Jahangiri
Illustrator: Jordan M. Vinyard

Publisher: 4RV Publishing LLC

Date: April 19, 2008





About The Author
Holly Jahangiri is a professional writer with over twenty years' experience in technical writing, freelancing, fiction, poetry, and editing.

What Is Under The Bed?
Stephen believes there is a monster under his bed. The monster repellent that his mother sprayed in his room is not working because Stephen hears the monster snoring under his bed each night. The monster snores and he talks in his sleep. Stephen knows the monster's name is Trockle and he is afraid the little fellow will eat him. Stephen's parents promise him that there is no reason to be afraid and consent to leaving the light on.

Trockle talks in his sleep because he is afraid of the thing that lives above him. Trockle's wise mother tells him that a little boy lives above him and there is nothing to be afraid of. The little boy looks different and does strange things and Trockle is afraid the boy might eat him. Trockle's mother tells him that the boy in the bed is afraid of HIM! Trockle thinks that is very funny.

At the end of the story, Stephen and Trockle sleep soundly knowing there is nothing to be afraid of.  They have more things in common than they first thought.

My Thoughts
This story deals with children's fear of the dark and the unknown. This is a common problem that all parents of young children have to deal with at one time or another.

Ms. Jahangiri presents an interesting possibility in this story...what if there really is a monster under the bed and he is afraid of the little boy?
This story is an excellent resource to discuss "point-of-view" with children and to compare Stephen's experiences on top of the bed with Trockle's home under the bed.

There is another important lesson in this story. Children learn that there is much diversity in the world and they do not need to fear something that looks different or unusual.

Jordan Vinyard has done an excellent job illustrating this story in colored pencils and/or chalk. The pictures add a great deal of value to the story.

This book will delight pre-schoolers through early elementary grade children. Highly recommend for home and school libraries.

My Rating: 5 Stars Out Of 5

FYI ~ The author sent me a complimentary digital copy of this book to read and review.

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Free Kindle Book For Kids About The Environment

Garbage! Monster! Burp!, by Tom Watson, is the story of a friendly monster who eats all of the town's garbage. The town grows and the monster has to eat more and more garbage. The monster burps and clouds of burp-gas hang over the town. The monster  gets bigger and sadder every day. Something has to be done! How do the kids save this town and help their burping friend?

About The Author
Tom Watson works as a freelance writer, focusing on marketing and advertising. He is the founder of BigDifBooks, a small Internet company dedicated to providing original stories for children (and their parents) at little or no cost.

Good Fit For The Kindle
I am always interested in reading children's picture books that are available on the Kindle. This book is a good fit for the Kindle. The text and the illustrations are formatted for easy viewing on the Kindle screen. If you want to view the illustrations in color, you can read the book on your Kindle for PC application.

Smart Kids Save The Day
The garbage-eating monster in this story has a problem. The town is growing and the amount of garbage is out-of-control. The adults are only interested in the town growing bigger and bigger. The kids realize that the monster needs help so they go to work. They love the monster and they do not like to see him sad and distressed. The kids decide to open a business to RECYCLE the trash. There is less trash for the monster to eat so he started feeling better and burping less. The kid's business is a huge success and everyone in town (including the monster) is happy. Oh, there was one person in town who is not happy with the kid's success...he still has a cloud of monster burp-gas hanging over his head!

Recommended For Kids (And Their Parents)
I think this book is a great opportunity for parents to teach children that a Kindle, an iPad, cell phone, laptop computer, etc. can be used to read and enjoy books. This book is written in a lyrical rhyming text that would be fun to read individually or used as a read-aloud. The illustrations are cute and add value to the story. The best thing about this book is that it teaches children the importance of taking care of our environment and the value of recycling. I am thrilled to see more and more children's books being published for e-readers. It is only a matter of time before e-readers will be just as popular with kids as they are with their parents.

More FREE Kindle Books By Tom Watson
When Cows Fly
Stick Dog Wants A Hamburger

Please share your thoughts in the Comments Section below ~ I love to hear from you!