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Apr 08, 2016mmcbeth29 rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
SUMMARY: The surf is up! Dude the frog goes to Bro the frog's house to get him to come surfing. But Bro is very involved with reading a book (Moby Dick). Dude can't believe Bro would rather read a book than go surfing. That is until Bro begins telling some of the exciting parts of the book. In the end, Bro makes Dude a believer that a good book is something worth taking time out for. ILLUSTRATIONS: The illustrations are creative and fun. On some pages the illustrations are muddy making it more difficult to follow what is happening--especially the imagination sequences. I don't understand why this is done when some of the pages have very clear and nice illustrations (such as on the cover). THE GOOD: First off, being a valley girl myself, I love that the frogs are named Dude and Bro. These are perfect surfer names. I love how Bro draws Dude to the book with his own excitement and how the book shows that sometimes a book is better than surfing. THE NOT AS GOOD: I did not feel that Moby Dick was a very good book to use as the example here of an enticing book since Surf's Up is meant for the younger crowd. And the combination of muddy illustrations for the "book" scenes with very little vocabulary can leave a child very confused if the adult is not filling in the holes to the story. This book is an awesome concept, but the execution was somewhat weak. AGE RECOMMENDATION: Advertised for ages 4-8. Ages 5-8 would be a better range. NOTE: I received a free ARC copy of this book from NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. My reviews are always 100% honest based on preset criteria.