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A review by nataliesnotinit
The Gift Inside the Box by Allison Sweet Grant, Adam M. Grant
1.0
This legitimately made me angrier than any kids' book I've read in a long time.
There's an ugly mean streak about this book, with some truly cynical and pessimistic views about what children are like, suggesting that they're mostly greedy and materialistic beings. It really comes across like the writers haven't actually spent any meaningful time with children and don't know what they're actually like.
Apparently this was written in 45 minutes and it shows. There's really just a basic set-up, 15 variations on the same joke, and an incomplete ending. (So lazy that they couldn't even come up with a recipient for the gift that would have anything resembling character or thematic value.)
The whole thing is meant to be a praise of generosity, but there's such a strange permeating schadenfreude and sense of entitlement to much of the book that the message is completely buried.
(The art was maybe the only thing that I could consider a positive about this.)
I'm baffled by this thing's existence and seeing it in my store still makes my blood boil. What kid would actually want to read this? What kid would enjoy it?
There's an ugly mean streak about this book, with some truly cynical and pessimistic views about what children are like, suggesting that they're mostly greedy and materialistic beings. It really comes across like the writers haven't actually spent any meaningful time with children and don't know what they're actually like.
Apparently this was written in 45 minutes and it shows. There's really just a basic set-up, 15 variations on the same joke, and an incomplete ending. (So lazy that they couldn't even come up with a recipient for the gift that would have anything resembling character or thematic value.)
The whole thing is meant to be a praise of generosity, but there's such a strange permeating schadenfreude and sense of entitlement to much of the book that the message is completely buried.
(The art was maybe the only thing that I could consider a positive about this.)
I'm baffled by this thing's existence and seeing it in my store still makes my blood boil. What kid would actually want to read this? What kid would enjoy it?