Review: Crazy Crab by Mark C. Evans

Posted August 23, 2017 by Lola in Review / 12 Comments

LolaReview

Crazy CrabCrazy Crab
by Mark C. Evans

Illustrated by Steve page

Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Picture Book

Blurb:
Steve is no ordinary Hermit Crab. He has a big dream… to be an astronaut and fly in space! His friends and family think he is crazy. They don’t send crabs into space. Will Steve have “the right stuff” to be sent on a daring mission to Mars? Can he work hard to beat mischievous mice and mad monkeys to ride a rocket to the red planet? Only time and training will tell in this hilarious story of a crazy crab who wants to reach for the stars.

My Review:
I received a free copy from the author and voluntarily reviewed it

When I got an e-mail about whether I wanted to review Crazy Crab I wasn’t sure what to expect. But something about the concept just sounded so fun, so I decided to have a look. Before I knew it I had finished the book. I don’t normally read or review picture books, so it’s hard to know what’s normal in this genre. But I figure I’ll just share my thoughts about this one and hopefully that helps.

Crazy Crab was a short read at only 15 or so pages, but it was a fun short read and I think kids will enjoy it. And I think a shorter length is normal for these types of books? The artwork is really well done, it all looks great and the drawings are fun to look at. I liked the style of the artwork and every page does look nicely drawn and polished. There are also some little details in the artwork and nice little touches that make the pictures fun to look at.

The story was simple, but entertaining. It follows the story of a hermit crab who has a very successful job and makes a lot of money, but he isn’t happy. He wants to go to Mars and he’s doing everything to make that possible.

I did feel like the story went by a bit fast. And while the initial set-up got a lot of pictures/ pages, but I would’ve liked a bit more about how the crab tried to get to Mars. The last part seemed a little bit rushed.

There are some fun jokes in the book and it has an uplifting tone. It also has a bit of a message to follow your dreams and maybe even how money doesn’t always make you happy, but it doesn’t really get put too much emphasized, just sort of woven into the story. So seems to be the core of what this book is about, as well as a crab who might be a bit crazy and dreams big.

To summarize: This was a fun and short read. I don’t normally read children picture books, so I had no idea what to expect, but I decided to give the book a look to see what I thought and had finished it before I even realized I had decided to read it all. It was a cute read and the artwork looks great. I think kids will really enjoy this book. It also has a bit of a message woven into the story about following your dreams and it has an uplifting tone.

4 Stars

Links:
Goodreads
Amazon
B&N

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Amazon.

Have you read a picture book this year?

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12 responses to “Review: Crazy Crab by Mark C. Evans

  1. Funny, I ended up reviewing a picture book recently too (not posted yet). Although I’m not even sure since it was listed as a graphic novel… who knows lol. But this sounds cute! A unique premise. And that’s nice that the artwork had good artwork and detail. Just from the blurb and your review, those were the messages I took from it as well. Glad it was a cute little read πŸ™‚

    • Oh that’s fun you also read a picture book recently. This one was really cute and a fun read. The artwork looked really nice with all these little details on each page and it just looked great.

    • I figured most picture books would be pretty short, I just wasn’t sure how short. This one seemed a bit on the shorter side to me, but then again I am not sure as I rarely read them. I am glad I picked this one up :).

    • I guess that does make sense picture books are short, I guess I just didn’t realize how short. It felt like it was over so fast. But it was a cute read πŸ™‚

    • I do pick up a MG book now and then, but rarely younger than that. It was difficult to figure out how to review it, but I am glad I gave it a read as it was a lot of fun :). I think this one would definitely appeal to kids.

  2. This one looks fun, Lola:). The book with lots of pictures I recently read and reviewed is part of the Diary of the Wimpy Kid series, which I hadn’t realised was so funny and accessible for newly independent readers. Thank you for sharing your review:)
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    • It was a fun read. I remember you mentioning the Diary of a Wimpy Kid, I didn’t realize that had a lot of pictures, that sounds nice for newly independent readers. i remember how much I liked books with pictures in them as a kid.

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