Haus-hold Picture Book Review: You Go First

A Hit with the Whole Family

My boys LOVE the park and we are lucky enough to have one close to our house, so we go all the time. I love going on the swings with them (swings are still my favorite) and watching them chase each other down the slide. My littlest one would do the slide all day if he could- we ended up getting him a small one for the backyard to help scratch that itch!

So you can imagine the wide-eyed excitement when the little one spotted a library book with a big yellow slide on the cover. We sat down right there on the carpet between the bookshelves and read this book, my typically squirmy toddler still and silent in my lap. Then we read it again. We took it home and read it again. And again. The due date came and we renewed it. Then we renewed it again.

The little guy wasn't the only one who loved this book. Big kid loved reading it to him and the dialogue between Cat and Duck had him laughing along with his little brother. Even Dad enjoyed making funny voices and using exaggerated emotion to tell the story.

We finally exhausted our renewals and returned this book after having it for EIGHT WEEKS.

I thought my boy had moved on. We read other picture books, some multiple times, but none with the obsessive adoration my toddler bestowed upon this book. Hardly two weeks after returning it, the book had been placed on a display towards the front of the children's area of our library. Do you think my toddler marched on towards the 10:15 story time, having already had his fill?

No. He didn't. We checked it out again, friends. When we got home from the library that day, I ordered my son his own copy of this much-loved book so someone else at the library can finally have a turn.

Synopsis

Cat and Duck are two very good friends who want to go on the slide. But something is different, and that something is the slide. It's bigger, and curvier, and Cat isn't so sure about this new slide. Duck, on the other hand, is absolutely sure that the new slide is awesome. After trying several stall tactics, Cat has made Duck wary of the slide, too. Cat must face the scary new slide so that Duck doesn't miss out on something she was looking forward to.

My Big Kid’s Honest Review:

What my Kids Loved: This was the little one's favorite. The story was short and sweet and the illustrations were colorful and expressive. The concept was something he could easily understand- he LOVES the slide! Who doesn't love the slide? A new slide is awesome! A scary new slide? The whole thing was right at his level, and the voice of the two characters made sense to him. My big kid loved the matter-of-fact way Cat approached the problem and found the banter between the two characters hilarious. Both kids loved giggling their way through this book.

What I Loved: As a mom, I loved the way this book captured the attention of my youngest. It had just enough text that it told a full and satisfying story, but was also sparse enough to keep my wiggly toddler from getting bored and flipping the page before I was done reading. Add all of this to the fact that my older son and my husband found the book hilarious, and we officially have a winner for our family.

As a writer, I loved the simplicity of the concept and the way that Bernstein very gently touches on a deeper theme. The dialogue was authentic and funny, and both characters had a distinct voice and personality that came through in their actions and the way they spoke to each other. And the choice to repeat the phrase "a very good friend" throughout the story added to the humor while reinforcing the theme.

My favorite lines:

Cat, a very good friend, wanted to be sure Duck had considered all options.

"Duck, do you want to go on the swings first? Or in the sandbox? The sand is looking very sandy today."

Final thoughts: Sometimes children choose a favorite book that is not a parent favorite, but you tolerate it because you love your child. This book is not that book. This is a book that you will not mind reading over and over and over again. You will love Cat and Duck their friendship so much that you'll probably hold this book hostage from the library for eight weeks, just like us.

You can request You Go First at your local library, or order directly from Simon & Schuster or from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other retailers- but don't forget to check your local independent bookstore first!