Review: Once Upon a Tim by Stuart Gibbs. Illustrated by Stacy Curtis
Quick Info:
Book type: Chapter Book
Target Age: 7-10 years old
Recommended Age: None
Plot: The adventure of Tim—a peasant—escaping his miserable life with his friend after a call for knights is sent through the land when the princess is kidnapped.
Review:
This book was a little funny and I found the “IQ booster words”—words that the character would label as an “iq booster word” & then explain—was a fun way to teach new words. There’s a strong girl power theme with Belinda’s character & the princesses learning in the end that she doesn’t have to wait for a man to save her; it could have been impactful if it didn’t go on for 5 pages. Personally, I didn’t like the humor of gross=funny but it is a common theme in books written for boys. I wasn’t a big fan of the main character’s interaction with everyone, especially his own parents and how he speaks directly to the when putting adults (and parents) in a negative light, examples are shown below. There’s also an excessive use of the word idiot (19 times, I counted) as there is a village idiot character who is always made fun of.
Opinion:
Due to how the book paints adults and parents in a negative light, the excessive use of “idiot”, gross humor and the joke about the prince making men swoon I would not recommend this book.
Content:
The Prince is depicted in drawings with women in love with him (heart eyes)
Prince would make “women—and the occasional man—swoon at his presence”
Refer to a character having “the voice like an angel” when she sings (it’s pretty)
Magic creatures (dragons, sphinxes, mutated frog-dog creature cursed by a witch)
Name calling (jerky, coward, nutty, dumb, scary cat, dimwit, bonehead, ugly, loser. Idiot is used 19 times)
“Darn” in emphasis (“pretty darn good”)
“Heck” (“to heck with my quest…”)
Gross humor: farts, “royal buttwiper”, butts, picking noses etc
Spells, wizards & witches
Belinda dresses up as a boy to become a knight because she can either be a housewife or a witch & doesn’t want to do either. She also lies to her parents a lot.
Village idiot character
Minor mentions of killing & death
Speaks directly to reader when painting adults in negative light: “adults are often evasive when answering perfectly good questions that kids ask, like “Why are you allowed to use bad words when I can’t?” “Where do babies come from?”…(pg 61) IQ booster words example sentences make fun adults. For example “when mom passes gas the smell is malodorous”. Tim calls his parents as “narrow minded” and “unsophisticated”.
Excerpts:
Excerpts from books are a glimpse of the content that is found and are not every instance of un-Islamic and/or “iffy” content.
Context:
The prince is commonly depicted with people swooning and falling in love with him. While it is mainly women there is a joke of “the occasional man” who falls for him. In the left picture there is a man drawn in the top left corner.
Context:
As an adult this sentence is a bit humorous but children are easily influenced and this vibe of constantly having something snarky to say about what an adult has to say is a big theme in the book. Although this may not be the best example, it is merely the first instance of it happening.
Context:
An “IQ Booster word” is a word the character will define and use in a sentence to help educate the reader. More often than not parents are at the brunt of the joke.
Context:
An “IQ Booster word” is a word the character will define and use in a sentence to help educate the reader. In this sentence the main character refers to his parents as “narrow-minded” and “unsophisticated”. He chalks it up to them being peasants.
Context:
An “IQ Booster word” is a word the character will define and use in a sentence to help educate the reader. More often than not parents are at the brunt of the joke.
Context:
The characters find out the “village idiot” is actually smart and he explains his lineage of “idiots”. It’s just not the best message to give to kids.
Context:
An “IQ Booster word” is a word the character will define and use in a sentence to help educate the reader. In this example the main character speaks directly to the reader about “Where babies come from?”
