Mags DeRoma

For me, the most interesting part of the book was this disclaimer in tiny print in the verso page indicia:

A NOTE TO PARENTS: This book depicts some activities which may be dangerous for young children to carry out unsupervised. The author, illustrator, and publisher expressly disclaim liability for any resulting injury or damages.

It seems to me this disclaimer could be in almost any children's book (I'm looking at you The Boxcar Children and Where the Wild Things Are.) This book has one child using an oven and another climbing a stepladder, and we get a disclaimer, but in all the Clifford books no one warns us about climbing on the back of a big red dog that's not equipped with seat belts.

As for the rest of the book, it just keeps repeating the words "gather, make, and wait" as if it weren't absolutely silly to include the word "make" in instructions of how to make something. Don't we maybe need to break that middle step down a little bit? Hmmmm? It's like asking your mom how she makes her delicious fudge, and she says, "Oh, just mix up a few things in a bowl." Great plan; thanks, Ma.… (mehr)