Katiegrace, You Have Too Much Stuff!
by Donna Sanchez
Illustrated by Joan Todd
This book is available for purchase through Bookemon.com. The direct link is: Katiegrace, You Have Too Much Stuff!
About the author:
“Donna Sanchez has been a Professional Organizer and member of the National Association of Professional Organizers since 2004. While working with children, she found her nitch in helping kids let go and get organized with what she has called Children’s De-Clutter Parties.”
Story: 4
The story is about a girl that has too much stuff. Her mom tells her she must clean her room or her upcoming sleepover is going to be called off. In haste Katiegrace hurries to clean her room and ends up stuffing everything in her closet. When Katiegrace’s mom returns and opens the closet door, out comes all of Katiegrace’s stuff. That is when Katiegrace’s mom calls in a professional organizer to help. The story is well written by someone that clearly knows her topic. I like the term “de-clutter party” and I intend to try it myself. At the end of the story there is a note to parents about organization and the importance of donating. I think this page could be omitted but I will touch on that more in the Format category.
Illustrations: 4
The illustrations are just one notch below professional and that is a compliment. Considering Bookemon is a do-it-yourself site I imagine the pictures are scanned in. Because of that a lot of the images I see in books on this site are a bit rough looking. These images do not look rough but they do lack that quality that would kick it up to a five. The images are consistent throughout the book but some of them seem to be misplaced. Overall, they are very good drawings and I would love to see more work from the artist.
Format: 3
As I said above I would completely omit the last page or somehow work the tips into the story. Having tag lines on some of the pages might work if the author really feels strongly about including it. Otherwise, it would be better left out entirely. The message speaks for itself in the story and there is no need to reinforce it. As far as image placement I noticed a few discrepancies. After Katiegrace cleans her room we are shown an image of the room still messy. There should have been an image showing a clean room. A few small rearrangements could really showcase and enhance the story an images.
The Overall Ahgoo Review rating is: 3.7
This book was reprinted with several different first names at the Bookemon site. Visit them and see if they have your name or your daughter’s name! It would make a nice gift.
