A review by tashrow
Pom and Pim by Olof Landström, Lena Landström

4.0

When Pom heads outside, the sun is shining and the day is beautiful. Pim, a stuffed toy, goes out too. But the day isn’t completely full of good luck, in fact Pom and Pim experience a lot of bad luck along the way. Somehow though, these bad moments turn into good ones. So when Pom falls down, there is money on the sidewalk and they get to have ice cream! The ice cream gives Pom a tummy ache, but then there is a balloon in the room. The balloon pops when Pom takes it outside, but it’s just in time to make a raincoat for Pim before the rain comes. Then it’s a lovely rainy day.

Landstrom plays with optimism in this book. Pom goes from merry to dejected in moments, just like any toddler, bouncing right back again with the next new distraction or change. The story is very simply told with the illustrations telling much of Pom’s reaction to the described situations. Pom is never given a gender, making this a book that will speak to all genders equally and children will see themselves reflected on the page.

The illustrations clearly reflect Pom’s emotions, as Pom changes moods from one page to the next. They are also wonderfully simple which fits into this story very nicely. The result is a book for toddlers that they will understand and relate to.

Grab this one when looking at emotions with toddlers, its everyday events will be something that any child has probably experienced. Appropriate for ages 2-4.