Reviews

Johnny the Walrus by Matt Walsh

kendyllgull's review

4.0

I enjoyed Matt Walsh reading this aloud on Youtube. I've always loved Matt's dry sense of humor. I would have given the book 5 stars, but I felt like the illustrations could have been better (sorry, illustrator).

libraryghost0_0's review

1.0

Not age appropriate, poor execution, reflects poorly on mothers.

some_okie_dude27's review

Asides from the blatant anti-trans allegory, this story is nonsensical and completely ridiculous. The writing is monotonous and the art is laughable. Walsh seems to be the type of conservative who says a bunch of edgy things in a 'smart' way in order to sound like he's making a good point. He's a poor man's Ben Shapiro, and even more of a grating contrarian.

Take Animal Farm, or Dr. Seuss' work, which this book is clearly riffing from. Even if you don't understand the deeper political points that are being made in those works, you'll still be able to ascertain what they're trying to say with the story. Walsh doesn't even try to do that here, he gets so lost in the message that he doesn't even try to tell a good story. The story is filled with strawman critiques and disingenuous arguments about how transgenderism and internet activism works, and seems more like it's condescending to children, rather than trying to educate them.

What a self-absorbed, self-gratifying piece of crap...much like the author who wrote it.

flummoxie's review

1.0

My kid got this out of the library because she likes walruses. It's anti-trans rubbish, and not even well argued or written. It's a bad meme hidden as a board book.

ruthrootz's review

4.0

Matt Walsh is an absolute troll. But he got his point across.

melissa_h's review

1.0

What a dumb book, one star

daphrose's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny informative inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A great book for teaching kids that just because they can imagine they’re something or even want to be something, doesn’t mean they are that thing. A funny way to teach kids (and adults!) the difference between imagination and reality.

Are there things in here that kids, especially young kids, won’t understand? Of course. But I think that’s a big part of the point: this book causes kids to ask questions that parents will have to answer (because guess what, parents: you WILL have to answer these questions, and probably much sooner than you think). Is it political? Yes, absolutely. We live in a political world. Our children grow up in public, in a political culture. They won’t grasp that for a long time, but introducing these kinds of subjects young is incredibly valuable. Lay the foundations now so they can have strong mental health, critical thinking skills, and a good grasp of reality.

The illustrations are cute and whimsical (and at times very creative and hilarious for adults). The book itself is sturdy and good quality, which is good, because I’ll have this in my house for years. 50/10 stars. SBG 4 lyfe.

therainbowshelf's review

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

I read a book by a transphobe today 😏 this book demonstrates one of the core beliefs of transphobes: that gender identity is all pretend. This book really isn’t written for the right audience. It’s a board book for toddlers on a topic toddlers aren’t yet exploring, written in a super political way. Even if I too was a transphobe, I’d have to say that the author needs to know their audience. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

mangomari's review

Disgusting and hateful

d_iris's review

2.0

This is not the book I want to end my year on, so I'm gonna have to find something else to read quick!