Super-Completely and Totally the Messiest! Book

5 STARS ILLUSTRATIONS
3 STARS STORY

I am a huge fan of Robin Preiss Glasser and I thought that her illustrations were absolutely fabulous in this story--full of charm and little details that were so warm and thoughtful and made me smile. Really added to the characterization.

The story itself left me a bit cold, despite the fact that I love Viorst's "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" and the sequel. Here she chronicles the frustrations of older sister Olivia who is neat-as-can be as she has to live with her little sister Sophie who is, as the title says, super-completely and totally the messiest! Cute idea, but my problem is that I'm not sure what sort of message we are going for here... I didn't really mind when Sophie simply had a messy room or liked painting her dolls funny colors; harmless and creative self-expressions, in my opinion. However, when she proceeds into public and wrecks seven sandcastles in a sandcastle competition or ruins a farmer's vegetable garden, for example, that seems to be a bit beyond the personal expression category and into the public menace category. The parents suggest that she tries to be a bit neater and more careful, but the picture of her in a brand-new car with food flying everywhere and a giant grin on her face would make one feel that she has not really taken the message to heart. It is made clear that Sophie is a very kind and intelligent individual, but then I'm not sure how she is so unaware. (I do wish to be sensitive to children who have challenges in social situations, etc., but nowhere is it apparent that Sophie has any sort of developmental or social challenges--rather that she just likes to be messy!) Perhaps this is just my own little pet peeve, but I feel that it is never too early for children to learn some personal responsibility and that their actions can have either positive or negative affects on others. Poor Sophie didn't seem to learn that there is a time and a place for being super-completely and totally the messiest.