I’m Back and Book Reviewin’ Once Again!

I am back with yet another book review,
for Don’t Ever Look Behind Door 32!

Not bad, eh?

For book review #9, I received an adorable picture book that looked like a perfect read-aloud for my youngest daughter, S3. I decided to review the story organically, and read it to S3 as part of our nightly bedtime ritual one night last month. Titled Don’t Ever Look Behind Door 32, the book is authored by B.C.R. Fegan, and illustrated by Lenny Wen.

Don’t Ever Look Behind Door 32 is a picture book, written in verse, that contains a big-time focus on numbers and counting. Right away, the numeracy focus absolutely thrilled my inner elementary math AIS teacher, I have to say!

Reading stories with my baby girl before bedtime can be either quite the enjoyable experience…. or quite not.

And that’s putting it mildly.

Basically, if a story engages S3 enough to sit still and listen from beginning to end, we’re golden.

If not?

Possible pre-slumber early-evening anarchy. And no, that is not an exaggeration.

Thus, here is what I know: if a book can grab the attention of one overtired, bedtime-hatin’ S3, it can definitely be called….

A Darn Good Book!

Don’t Ever Look Behind Door 32 is the second book I’ve reviewed where I could pretty much gather all of the information I needed for an honest, thorough review from one read-aloud experience with my kid. The first story I reviewed in this way was a little over a year ago, when I reviewed  #babylove: My Toddler Life by Corine Dehghanpisheh. (The review of Dehghanpisheh’s enjoyable tale of moderation moms and their tech-lovin’ babies can be found here.) By bypassing my boring adult analytics and going straight to the book’s intended audience, I feel that the end result has to be an unbiased-to-the-highest-degree-type-review.

Because seriously, what person on Earth is more brutally honest than a three-year old?

In the case of Don’t Ever Look Behind Door 32, the verdict is in, and it’s a positive one! Don’t Ever Look Behind Door 32 was an absolute hit with S3. Indeed if S3 likes a book, if S3 attends to a book, if S3 sits through an entire reading of a book-that-is-longer-than-5-pages, then yes, the book is definitely worth checking out!

Trust me.

Come For The Story, Stay For The Illustrations

B.C.R. Fegan’s delightful storytelling aside, let’s not forget Mr. Lenny Wen, the book’s illustrator. Quite the talented artist, Wen fills each page of this story with just beautiful, vibrant illustrations. With each turn of the page, S3 was captivated by the page-length, detailed images drawn by Wen. Fegan’s numerous engaging, oddball characters take center stage as each new “room” in the “Hotel of Hoo” is visited throughout the story, and protagonist Nicholas Noo (the hotel’s proprietor and story narrator), shows off each room to his two wide-eyed, awestricken young visitors, both of whom end up going on a unique hotel tour chock-full of characters they will likely not soon forget!

Case in point:

And this:

In addition to mermaids and fairies, there is quite a variety of other creature characters that can be found in the various “rooms” of the “Hotel of Hoo,” including goblins, zombies, elves, and more!

A Variety of Characters, A Variety of Purposes

As stated above, readers end up meeting numerous characters with each room they “visit” in Nicholas Noo’s hotel. Additionally, as each room 1-32 is introduced, the characters inhabiting each room are, at times, illustrated in the same quantity as the number of the room itself (such as 14 mermaids in room 14). On other pages, the objects in the room match the room’s number, and sometimes there is instead something within the room’s illustration directly related to the room’s number, but what that may be is not all that obvious.

Figuring out what in the room is representative of the room’s number is a great math exercise for older readers, which is why I’d recommend this book to kids up to the age of 7, even 8! The math skills covered in this book go beyond just counting from 1 to 32, that’s for sure.

Beyond the obvious and not-so-obvious mathematical themes in this book, there was one non-mathematical theme in this book that stood out to me as well. Now I will admit, the theme I am about to describe was a little over S3’s head, but ya gotta start somewhere with this topic, I believe. And although the topic I am speaking of is one that is definitely not over S3’s head, the theme of learning to deal with said topic, is. And by the way, I am fully aware that I am probably not making as much sense as I want to be. Anyway, what the h-e-double-hockey-sticks topic am I talking about, you ask?

Fear.

When Things Aren’t What They Seem

Some of the characters in Don’t Ever Look Behind Door 32 are your typically “scary” characters found in all sorts of Western folklore. At first, I worried that the story might be a little too scary for S3 due to the presence of ghosts, monsters, zombies, etc as characters. And indeed, when we started encountering some of these characters early on in the story, S3 did state, “zombies are scary.” I started to worry a bit that the book may be too scary to read to her right before bedtime, until I realized what, exactly, those zombies were doing.

They were…. dancing.

Yeah, real scary. Walking Dead-ready these zombies are not (though I wouldn’t mind Jeffrey Dean Morgan showing up in one of those rooms, jussayin.’)

When I pointed out that these were dancing zombies, S3 giggled. Same with the “tea-loving monsters.” Are monsters truly ‘scary’ when sipping tea at a table with two little kids?

Nope! S3 had to agree.

Life lesson time! (Video spoiler alert: S3 didn’t really ‘get’ the message I was trying to get across, but at least the seeds have been planted.) What a great theme to pull out of this book for older kids, too!

Though she did get the message discussed below, for which I am very grateful. Although yes, S3 did give up her pacifier (aka her Toddler Crackpipe) over a year ago, still, today, I am fearful of a paci relapse. I ain’t even gon’ lie.

And Now…. For The Littles!

Thus far, I’ve covered some interesting tidbits in this story that would make it a fun read for the kids on the older end of the recommended readers age bracket. I’ve also spoken about Lenny Wen’s bold, rich illustrations, which should be pleasing to readers of any age. But now, onto why this is a great book for the younger kids in the book’s recommended audience, like S3!

Rhythm, Rhyme, Repetition, and Reading

Rhythm, rhyme, and repetitive language. Exposure to these three Rs frequently results in early emergent readers developing the phonological awareness skills needed to progress to the next stage of reading development. Which is exactly what we want them to do in and around the ages of the intended audience for the book Don’t Ever Look Behind Door 32.

Pretty impressive teacher knowledge I just dropped there, amiright? 😊😊

What I just stated in teacher-ese is basically that when young kids who aren’t yet readers listen and interact with stories read to them that are written in verse, and that also possibly contain either or both rhyming words or repetitive speech patterns, it helps kids inch thismuchcloser to becoming actual readers themselves one day. Since S3 is only 3 years old, I don’t expect too much in this realm for her just yet. Currently, my sole focus for S3 as a reader is for her to learn that books and stories are enjoyable, and that’s pretty much it. But as you can see in the video clip below, she gets the repetition thing, too, somewhat.

Even if its more fun to pretend not to know the upcoming word!

The Organization of Room 32

Don’t Ever Look Behind Door 32 is, as I stated before, written in verse. Fegan writes his description of each “room” like a poem in and of itself, as couplets, tercets, or quatrains. And these “mini-poems” can be viewed one of two ways.

1. As stand-alone poems describing one of the unique hotel rooms itself.
2. As stanzas of the larger, story-length poem itself, analogous to the guest rooms the smaller poems describe to the larger Hotel of Hoo.

Of course, the lines in each couplet, tercet, or quatrain have a rhyming pattern as well. In fact, if S3 was a little older, I would have her predict the rhyming words using context and picture clues as comprehension practice. However at age 3, my girl isn’t quite ready for that yet. Though the kids at older end of the book’s intended audience certainly are!

I could tell that S3 enjoyed the rhythm, rhyme, and repetitive nature of the story. She also really liked Lenny Wen’s vibrant illustrations. What else did she enjoy? Well there was also, the embedded lessons in….

Counting? Math? Heck Yeah!

I love math. Its what I teach at work (mostly, as I also teach reading). I have always loved teaching math to elementary-aged students (followed by teaching writing as a distant second). I also know that I am darn good at teaching math. However, I have learned from my older daughter S11 over the years that teaching is verrry different when the students are your own offspring.

Verrry different, indeed. And not “easier-different.” Turn around and head the other way to “hardAF-different-ville,” and don’t call me when you get there, if you please.

I choose NOT to give my children homeschool-style math instruction lessons, unless they ask. For my sanity and for theirs. Consider that my #LifeLesson for you today. You’re welcome.

Thus what is great about Don’t Ever Look Behind Door 32, is the fact that no forced learning or old-school-esque “lessons” are necessary, yet 50% of my kids still practiced math skills that day, without knowing! The whole “counting to 32” thing is right in the book- making learning numbers fun and engaging for even the most resistant learners!

I also loved that the story went beyond counting 1-12, or even 1-20. 1-32? Bring it on! Why not, right?

While S3 can count from 1-32 out loud by reciting the numbers from memory, she has only made the number-symbol connection for a few isolated double-digit numbers. She does recognize 1-12, but given, like, 17, she will say “one-seven” or “seven-one” rather than “seventeen.” Obviously, she is still just learning that we read words and numbers from left to right and what the digits themselves are. But she does know them! And this book challenged her to go even further.

I love that the storyline of Don’t Ever Look Behind Door 32 lends itself to ample opportunities to practice counting and identifying numbers, I really do. And practice, according to S3, is the key to mastery, as she explains in the video clip below:

Her proud mama/teacher in disguise ONLY is inclined to agree. 😉

Final Thoughts

Don’t Ever Look Behind Door 32 is an absolutely charming story from start to finish. Plus, it contains:

• Counting practice
• Themes including not judging a person/creature by appearances
• Solving visual math number connection puzzles
• Exposure to different styles of rhyming poetry (couplet, tercet, quatrain)
• The utilization of rhythm, rhyme, and repetitive language to assist early emergent readers
• Gorgeously vibrant illustrations to ensure continuous story engagement

All this, found in just ONE picture book?

Yes indeedy, folks!

And the ending! Let’s not forget about the “twist” ending which is quite a surprise as well! While S3 didn’t quite “get” the conclusion of Don’t Ever Look Behind Door 32, the fact that she made it through all 32 rooms without losing interest at 8:30 in the evening was a day “twist” ending enough to make me happy. Though I will admit to chuckling a bit myself after reading what ended up residing in good ol’ room 32!

And alls I will say is this: I ‘get’ you, Nicholas Noo, I do.

My standard sign-off and book review disclaimer aside, I will leave the last word of this review to S3 via the video clip below (though unfortunately the last person to speak is me, but whatevs). My baby girl sums up everything I’ve discussed here pretty concisely, wouldn’t you agree?

I certainly think so.

Thanks for reading. Until next time!

Disclosure: The book was provided to the reviewer. All thoughts belong to the reviewer and have not been influenced.