Author: Joy V. Smith

ISBN: 1-4241-8634-X

    Joy V. Smith has written a delightful new children’s book, Why Won’t Anyone Play with Me?. This book is a short and sweet story that teaches, like most good childrens’ books, an underlying lesson.

    Meet Kallie, a sad and lonely little kitten. None of the animals at the big red barn will play with her. Wanting desperately to have friends, the sad little kitten sets out to find other animals to play with and to befriend. In her search along the pond by the woods, Kallie encounters Kevin Kroaker, Topper Turtle, Tazi Treefrog, Salli Salamander and Lily Ponds. Kallie cannot understand why none of these animals want to play with her. All of them run, jump or splash away at her every attempt to play with them. By the end of this short story, a soggy and tearful Kallie learns that she must change the way she plays with smaller animals if she hopes to ever have friends. When she learns this lesson, Kallie is able to play and enjoy new games with her brand new friends.

    This story, with its animal characters, is especially appealing to younger children. Parents would like this story as it deals with a young one who is having difficulty understanding the need to play gently with smaller creatures. Why Won’t Anyone Play With Me? would be a great story for children with smaller siblings, especially for those who, like many, have a tendency to play too rough.

    Unfortunately, the illustrations in this book leave much to be desired and take away from the overall quality of the book. Blurry pictures that seem to have been enlarged, cut and pasted fill each page. Cut-outs in the back of the book, great for children to act out the story, are fuzzy. Many parents or grandparents would probably forego a purchase of this book based on it’s cover alone. However the sage advice of “don’t judge a book by its cover” comes into play well here. Smith’s simple story is one that 2- to 4- year old children will love to hear again and again.

The above review was contributed by: Kristin Pace:  Kristin is an avid reader and has written book reviews for various publications.  She has been involved with Writer's Workshops both as a student and as an instructor.