Batty Betty by Kathryn Hast.
Abel, the tuba; Eve, the sad banana; and Betty, a giant who dances unapologetically to her own drum. When Abel goes out marching by himself, he finds a sad banana named Eve who has been bullied by local beavers. As it turns out, she’s not alone. The beavers are also out for Betty, who stands out with her towering height and “batty” behavior. Abel sets out to defeat these beavers, but soon discovers it’s not about winning – it’s about finding your own music amidst the ruckus and noise.
A lovely children's book. Great illustrations and story. 5*.

This goes beyond the usual "be yourself" story The characters are relatable and Betty herself is someone you would love to have as a friend. This will make a great Storytime book.

The front cover art is incredibly cute and I was drawn to this book. I wish the rest of the book was as good. Cheerful, brave Abel the tuba finds a banana named Eve with low self esteem. With awkward rhyming throughout, they encounter name calling, non-inclusive beavers who warn them about a dancing giant named Batty Betty. End message is "bent is what life is" and "no one is ideal".

Charming, for hipsters, intellectuals, and their children.

I thought that this was a really nice little story about accepting others for who they are. The illustrations are lovely and the story is just right for the target age group - 3 stars from me

I am going to give this story an interesting. It is kind of long, and at times the rhymes get your tongue tied. But I see a need and a place for this book. A Tuba goes wandering and meets a brown banana who feels left out and alone. Plus everyone is scared of Batty Betty, and the Beaver Bullies. This is a story to explain that everyone has bad days, or feel a bit crazy. You really need to get to the end for the entire story to make sense.

I read this with my preschooler. I enjoyed the message of the book (don't be afraid to be yourself), and the zany characters (the mushy banana, the dinged-up tuba), but it seemed less geared to children and more to adults. The book was overly long, and I feel that some of the concepts (the bent world, for example) and wording might go over many children's heads. It was too much for my preschooler, but I think it would also be a little dull for my eight year old.

A story about accepting others for who they are. While the illustrations were lovely, I found the story itself a bit simplistic. To be fair, this may be because I don't teach little ones anymore. I am curious what a PreK or Kindergarten teacher would think.

I loved the cover and wanted to adore this book based on its fantastic blurb but unfortunately I didn't connect with it like I do with most children's books. It felt somewhat disjointed and I wanted to hear what Betty had to say about bullying and being yourself. The pictures were sweet. I wondered about some of the choice of words as I'm not sure a young child would know or care who Liszt is or what opus means.

I received an ARC from NetGalley (thank you very much to NetGalley and LuJu Books) in exchange for honest feedback. I'm sure a lot of children and parents alike will love this book but I'm afraid this one wasn't for me.

While the solid themes of friendship and encouragement are present in this book, the plot is all over the place and the characters are completely unconnected and odd. The opening page has nothing to do with the rest of the story. If the author wants to continue writing, I suggest she work on strength and connectedness of characters as well as following a story arc.

This is an interesting story to illustrate the point that we all march to the beat of our own drums and doing so is completely acceptable. Some plot elements seem out of place. I wasn't a fan of the banana thinking perhaps a different instrument to juxtapose the tuba would have been a better choice. Regardless, it does a good job of making its point and the illustrations are cute. Betty the giant is a scene stealer though mute throughout the story. She plays well off the beavers because of their differences. Parents wishing to engage their child(ren) will find lots of opportunity for discussion with this one.

This book is the reason that editors were invented.

This book had a good concept, but really needed a good editor.

Did I mention that this book could have been so well done, if someone had let an editor read this, and make suggestions of how to make this book come together better?

The concept is good, that we all march to the beat of our own drum, or our own music in general, the way that Batty Betty the giant does, hearing music in her head, and dancing all the time.

That part is good.

The part about the tuba finding a banana that was going bad, and was worried about that? The part about the beavers being angry at Betty, and building a dam? It was almost as though two stories or three stories were mashed into one, which was the story of the giant who was different, and didn't care what others thought.

We never even get to hear what Betty thinks, as she dances around in the background, throwing pretend confetti out into the sky, and just having a good old time. The pictures are nice, though.



Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

A delightful book with marvelous illustrations by L.M. Phang. Thanks to NetGalley for providing this ebook for review.