"This Is a Taco!", resenha literária de um livro infantil que nos ensina a lutar pelo que queremos

"This Is a Taco!", de Andrew Cangelose, e ilustrado por Josh Shipley,  foi-me cedido pela NetGalley, para que eu fizesse uma apreciação honesta deste livro. Não há de momento edição em português. Mas, quando sair, se sair, vale a pena comprar!

Publiquei a minha opinião no Goodreads com 5/5 estrelas e a seguinte "review":

What does a squirrel have to do to have tacos in its story? Write it!!! This book is so funny! Loved it!

The original narrator of the story starts to present this book as one about common, simple facts about squirrels: “This is a squirrel…Squirrels are some of the cleanest rodents in the wild. They are known for having silky, soft fur…Squirrels love to eat nuts, acorns and tree bark”. His pages, as the text, are dull and bland.

But Taco, the squirrel in this story keeps interrupting. And everything goes down when food is mentioned: “Tree barks? I was told there’d be tacos.” That’s the reason he accepted to be in this book!!!

Taco isn’t an ordinary squirrel and he doesn’t like the direction the story is taking. He won’t accept that. He refuses the writer to dictate the rules for him. He will fight for what he wants. How? By taking a red pen and editing the text as it is written, making it right for him and what he is as an individual. After all, this book is about him.

This squirrel is confident and daring. He knows what he requires and demands it! He has no reservations in correcting the writer’s text to achieve it. Nobody messes with Taco!

The illustrations are cartoonish and funny. The narrator’s text is serious and informative, occurring in turns with Taco’s vivacious and expressive speech, full of fuss, exclamations, and shouts.

Is it all just about laughs? I don’t think so.

Is there a message? Yes! Don’t do what others expect you to do, just because it’s what all others usually do, what is expected of you, what is considered normal. Dare to be different! Write your own story, make your choices even if they are unexpected. Even if they make you different from the rest. Fight for it!

This book reminds me of a quote I like, by Holly Dean: “Don’t ever let anyone build your world for you. They always build it too small“.

I really recommend this book. Children of all ages (even my age, as a mother of three) can really laugh with Taco! A lot!

I received this book as an eARC from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.