Art Book for Kids Review: Too Much Glue

I was sent a free copy of this new children’s book to review and share with you.  It is called Too Much Glue, written by Jason Lefebvre and illustrated by Zac Retz.

It is a very cute story of a boy who uses TOO MUCH GLUE on his artwork in art class, does a flying jump into the puddle and gets stuck there.

What I love about the book:

• It’s a unique story, I have not seen a story like this before.
• The writing is fun… with rhyming and alliteration such as “Soon I’m a melted mummy, clicky bricky, clingy stringy, blucky stucky mess.”
• It could be a cautionary tale for using too much glue (or on the flipside it might give some mischevious kids the idea to cover themselves in glue)
• The ending can encourage the kids to discuss what art can be.. “a me-shaped artwork”… can a dried shape of glue be art?
• The expressions on the characters’ faces are awesome.  For older students you could probably incorporate this with a lesson on drawing facial expressions.

Other thoughts:

• This would probably be best for ages 4-6 or so.  When my daughter was around the ages of 2-3 she was terrified of illustrations like this with the big eyes and huge expressions.  She actually threw a book like this across the room screaming when she was younger.  I read this one to her (she is now almost 4) and she did sit there entranced by it, not scared.
• Maybe you can encourage your librarian to include it in the school library.  This would be a nice book to read when you have a few extra minutes at the end of a class.

Here is what the official description reads,

“What happens when you put copious amounts of glue in the hands of an impish little boy?  Pure havoc, that’s what! Our newest title, Too Much Glue (written by Jason Lefebvre, illustrated by Zac Retz, for release: September 2013), is the wacky story of a boy who, despite his teacher’s warnings, lands himself in a sticky situation.

One day during art class, Matty pours the fullest bottles of glue on his desk, adds paper and sequins and sparkles, and with a plop and a shout of “Geronimo!” leaps on top of the desk to add the final decoration: himself. But when Matty tries to get up, he boings right back down! Will Matty’s classmates be able to pull him out or will Matty be a clicky-bricky, clingy-stringy, blucky-stucky glue boy for the rest of his life?

Zac Retz’s wildly expressive digital paintings and Jason Lefebvre’s lively language and zany refrain make Too Much Glue a must-read for the children and adults who know that the most enjoyable artistic endeavors are the especially messy ones.”

A preview of this book is available here, so you can flip through some of the pages.