Reviews for Mud Puddle, Vol. 1

The average rating for Mud Puddle, Vol. 1 based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2021-01-07 00:00:00 Brian Schauer Let's start with the artwork. I don't know why they decided to put new artwork in this book, but the original was published in 1982 and Munsch did the artwork, but there is no way it could be worse than the artwork of Sami Suomalainen. I think it's terrible. I really don't like the new do and I would rather see Robert's artwork anyway. I don't know what the publishing company was thinking. The new edition came out in 1995. Big mistake. The story is rather cute and unusual, if you can get past the artwork, which I couldn't. It's creepy. A mud puddle is attacking this girl each time she goes in her yard and she gets dirty. She does outsmart it, but how sad the girl doesn't want to go outside because of this mud puddle. The mom gives her many baths in one day. If my nephew were reading this with me, he would have laughed and laughed at the naked girl being put in the tub. All the private bits were covered. He wasn't with me, so I missed his laughing. I would love to see the original artwork, I don't believe it could be any worse.

Review # 2 was written on 2019-02-23 00:00:00 Marc Staley This is a pretty nonsensical story. I think it's basically just a statement about how some kids will find mud and manage to get dirty when they go outside, no matter what. Here we have a sentient mud puddle that kind of stalks a little girl named Jule Ann. It lurks in trees or on the roof and hides behind fences. Every time Jule Ann puts on clean clothes and goes outside, the mud puddle is waiting to get her dirty (which results in a thorough scrubbing from her mother). Eventually, Jule Ann has had enough, and she concocts a simple plan to get rid of the mud puddle once and for all. Maybe the reason I'm struggling with liking this one more is because of the illustrations. They're okay, but when I read Robert Munsch's stories, I really like seeing what Michael Martchenko can do with the illustrations. If this book had been illustrated by him, I might've had a more favourable opinion of it. All in all, it's not terrible, but it's not my favourite Munsch book by any means.