Pink, More Pink, Even More Pink

Pinkalicious. Victoria Kann & Elizabeth Kann. 2006. HarperCollins. 40 pages.

It was a rainy day, too wet to go outside. Mommy said, "Let's make cupcakes! What color do you want?"
"Pink!" I said. "Pink, pink, pink!"
Mommy put in some pink. 
"More!" I cried. "More, more, more!"
I gobbled up a couple of cupcakes while Mommy and I frosted them. They were so yummy--they were Pinkalicious! 

The star of Pinkalicious just LOVES the color pink. And in this first adventure, she is delightfully munching pink cupcakes. To her surprise--to everyone's surprise--eating so many pink cupcakes turns her to varying shades of pink. But when is enough enough?

I liked this book. I did. It was fun. It was clever. And I liked her little brother, Peter, too. I liked this one the best of all the series.

Purplicious. Victoria Kann & Elizabeth Kann. 2007. HarperCollins. 40 pages.

I was in art class, painting a picture.

In Pinkalicious' second adventure, she learns that kids can be very mean and bossy. It's no secret that the star of this book LOVES the color pink. So when the girls in her class tell her that pink is only for babies, well, it upsets her. She just CAN'T like black like all the others. It's black. But after a few days of this nonsense, she feels that pink is a lonely color.  Will the new girl--who loves purple--cheer her up and cure her blues?!

Goldilicious. Victoria Kann. 2009. HarperCollins. 40 pages.


I was putting flowers on the mane of my pet unicorn. "Pinkalicious, why are you dropping flowers on the rug?" asked Mommy. "I'm not dropping flowers. I am getting Goldie ready for the Unicorn Ball," I said, prancing around the room.
"What unicorn? I don't see any unicorn," said Peter.
"She's right here and she's not ANY unicorn, she is my unicorn. Her name is Goldilicious, Goldie for short. Oh, Goldie--you shouldn't have done that on the floor! You know better. Just neigh when you need to go potty. I'm sorry, Peter, but you are stepping right in it," I said.

This is the third picture book starring Pinkalicious. In my opinion, it is probably the weakest of the series. In this adventure, readers learn about Pinkalicious' (imaginary) unicorn, Goldie. Readers see the two have some adventures together. But these adventures aren't without their difficulties. Peter sees to that. (I would have liked this one more if it hadn't talked about wizards, casting spells, and crystal balls.)

Silverlicious. Victoria Kann. 2011. HarperCollins. 40 pages.


I had a wiggly tooth. It had been wiggling for days. 


In this adventure, Pinkalicious loses a tooth. But not just any tooth. She loses her sweet tooth. Ever since she lost this tooth, she's not been able to enjoy anything sweet. Her family has also noticed how losing this tooth has made her CRANKY and ungrateful. Can Pinkalicious learn her lesson and become a sweet little girl again?

I also read three I Can Read books starring Pinkalicious. I read Pinkalicious: Pink Around the Rink, Pinkalicious School Rules!, and Pinkalicious: Pinkie Promise. I found I actually preferred these early readers to some of the picture book sequels. For example, in School Rules! is an early reader about Goldie and Pinkalicious. Having her imaginary unicorn with her during the school day may help her behave herself because she's having to show him all the rules. Pinkie Promise shows Pinkalicious successfully resolving a conflict with her best friend. She promised her friend that she wouldn't use all her pink paint--she was borrowing her friend's paint--but not only did she use all the pink paint, she also used most of the red and white too. But there is hope for the friendship yet... And in Pink Around the Rink, Pinkalicious turns her new boring white ice skates into one-of-a-kind skates with the help of a pink marker...

Read Pinkalicious (and all its sequels)

• If you are looking for a fun series to read aloud to little girls
• If you love the color pink, cupcakes, unicorns, etc.
• If you are looking for sweet picture books with family-friendly messages and themes 
• If you like enthusiastic narrators

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep and Never Had To

The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep and Never Had To. DC Pierson. 2010. Random House. 240 pages.

From the prologue: All the newspapers and TV pundits are calling this fall's freshman college class the "Symnitol Generation," but if the activity up and down my dorm hallway is any indication, this fall's freshman college class is the "Stand Around Each Other's Laptops and Play the First Thirty Seconds Of Every Song on the Hard Drive Generation." The noise makes it hard to sit and write this but not impossible.

From chapter one: I've got a system to keep people from seeing what I'm drawing.

I can't say I loved The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep And Never Had To. But I can say it was an interesting read: a coming-of-age novel with a science fiction twist. Our narrator, Darren Bennett, was a loner, a young guy trying to keep his life private. Not wanting anyone to know just how seriously he took his drawing, his stories. But then he meets Eric Lederer, a guy with an even bigger secret to keep, and it just happens that he shares his vision. The two begin working on the project together--creating stories and characters, outlining movies and books, etc. And the two become best friends. Even though Eric doesn't love everything about Darren--his bullying brothers, for example, and his friend's obsession with "his thing." And Darren doesn't love everything about Eric--his friend's reluctance to explore "his thing," and his way of disappearing for a day or two each month. What is Eric's "thing"? Well, it's what the call Eric's big secret: the fact that Eric doesn't ever sleep. He doesn't have to sleep. He has never slept in his entire life. Darren isn't the first person Eric's ever told. But he is the first person who has believed him. And he's the first person to become obsessed with it, to view it as a "super-power." But what Darren fails to realize is just how heavy a burden this "power" is for his friend.

As I said, it's a coming of age novel, so expect angst and rivalry. For what could separate these two friends? Could it be a girl? a drama queen?!

The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep And Never Had To has its moments. I enjoyed quite a few scenes in this one. But--for me--it wasn't quite love. The book had its light moments, its funny moments, it's social commentary. But. I had a hard time believing in the science fiction elements of this one. In Eric's power and ability. And the last third of the novel had me a bit confused--what was real? what was imagined? is Darren reliable as a narrator? are we supposed to like Darren? I do think other readers might like it more than I did.

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews