I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book's rhymes started out cute, but seemed to get trite over several pages. I think it was trying to politicize something that young children don't yet have the complexity to understand. The pictures were colorful.

Walls are everywhere in our world. Some walls surround animals and crops on farms to keep them from harm, some are for sports to bounce balls off of and some walls hold up houses and other buildings.

Walls are very important and have many uses. Some protect, some include and some exclude. The book categorizes walls into social, border, political, emotional, big, old, and small walls. Each page has an adorable little mouse imbedded in it. He observes each particular wall that the narrator is describing to the reader.

The illustrations are quirky, colourful and minamalistic. "Walls" is written in rhyme and at times the rhyming is awkward. The book can be used as a catalyst to open up dialogue about walls and offers a pathway to express to children the family values concerning the topic.

I want to like this book. I love the premise - the message is timely and needed! However the rhyming does not seem to flow to me, which makes it a halting read.

In this current political environment, children will have questions about the administration and why they're doing the things they're doing. This book is pure and perfect for the smaller child when they're asking why the president wants to build walls and keep people out. This story shows that while some walls are necessary, walls to keep people out are not. I love this book, plain and simple. It's a great message about love and acceptance and it's informational for the curious mind.

ALL the people need this book in their life- young, old, in between! I plan to purchase this book as a gift frequently in the future. It shows how walls can be used for good or evil with very political tones and examples of how to be a kind citizen. LOVE LOVE LOVE!

A very disappointed 2 stars for this book.

I *really* wanted to like Walls -- its premise of breaking down barriers to teach inclusivity couldn't be more timely. Unfortunately, this book just wasn't for me. I found some of the rhyming to be awkward and the illustrations weren't as appealing as I'd thought they might be from the cover.

Walls starts off strong, with mentions of some "good" kinds of walls, like those for sports or those that make up the rooms in a house. Next it talks about "bad" kinds of walls that "keep people out", but then the story jumps very suddenly into a call for social action. I'm a rather left-leaning socialist Canuck and even I was a bit off-put by the messaging.

There is no subtlety here at all which makes this story less useful than it might otherwise be. If its goal is preaching to the choir, then I suppose it might have a purpose, but I can't imagine this could possibly be helpful in opening conversations with anyone who might be supportive of the kinds of walls this book is warning against. I think it would be more likely to stir the pot by offending some parents, and that's last thing that's helpful when trying to open minds to different ideas.

Thank you to NetGalley and Princeton Architectural Press for providing me with a DRC of this book.

Walls

This colorful and inspirational story for children encourages them to build connections with others. Stresses kindness and openness while reminding adults of the same good values. Told with beautiful bold illustrations that will appeal to kids and adults alike. Highly recommended!

Pub Date 21 Aug 2018  

Thanks to Princeton Architectural Press and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are fully mine.

#Walls #NetGalley

I think the purpose and timeliness of this story is valid. Walls that block others out are no good. I liked the beginning of the book where the author described a few different kinds of walls, but I really felt that there was a greater opportunity available with this book that was left out.

The rhymes were lacking and much too simple and repetitive, but the message of the story is an important one in our political climate.

This was a very cute book that describes the subject of walls in the context of immigration and global politics. I think the book did a great job of simplifying a topic so that children can understand it. This book also teaches a great lesson about accepting others who are different.

This book has such a cute, simplistic way of attacking a larger than life problem - the walls that people build up to block out anything different. While the story starts with talking about different kinds of walls (with an impressive rhyme scheme and illustrations, to add), it quickly gets to the point and describes how we can let others in and accept each other despite their differences. A sweet and simple way to send a strong message! Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC!

With a Dr. Seuss-like feel and fun rhymes, the book delves into heavy topics that would be otherwise difficult for kids to grasp. It boldly makes its worldview and world values known: walls that keep out people are damaging and not great. If you need a way to connect/make sense of difficult topics with young children, reading this book is definitely one way to engage with the topic and to begin the process of raising little human rights activists!

I wanted to like this book much more than I did. The message is well-done and a crucial one, but the narrative progresses too abruptly from talking about different types of walls (houses, fences, etc.) to the social justice element of the narrative. I also think the illustrations are not attractive -- not very colorful or interesting on the page, especially to kids.

Subtle this is now.

Very simple picture book about good walls and bad walls. Good walls are walls that keep pigs and chickens where they should be. Or keep the rain and snow out.

Bad walls are walls that keep people out.

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-818" src="http://www.reyes-sinclair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-03-at-8.07.58-AM.png" alt="Walls" />

The solution, according to the book is to protest, and the protest will bring the walls down.
<img class="&quot;alignnone" src="http://www.reyes-sinclair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-03-at-8.26.48-AM.png" alt="walls" />

A little over simplified, but sure. Protest does work.

Not sure how much this is for the parents or for the kids. Cute book. Early introduction to protesting against wrongs.

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

Walls is a delightful rhyming book for young children. As a pediatric speech language pathologist, I am always on the lookout for books that rhyme. As a rhyming book, it promotes great listening skills and literacy for children. The illustrations are beautifully executed as the author uses words to describe the types of walls we see around us. The typical walls are houses and walls that keep animals safe, but takes us through the types of walls that are designed to keep humanity away from different types of people. There is a subtle message here that addresses walls that keep others away. "These are the walls that we like least of all!" I loved the book and it's message. All teachers and librarians should have this in their libraries! A solid four star book!

Thank you to the publisher and #NetGalley for a pre-publication ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Not my favorite style of illustrations. Story about different types of walls and what they are for; farm, sports, houses. But then there are walls to keep people separate and those walls are not good at all.

This was cute and informational! Nice book to begin discussion of Berlin Wall and maybe The Great Wall of China. I don't think it's ever to soon to discuss crimes against humanity with children. They need to hear about the world they live in. This is a well written little rhyming book with nice simple illustrations.

Walls, by Brade Holdgrafer (story) and Jay Cover (illustrations), is the children's book the world needs now! It has lovely illustrations and an even lovelier message of acceptance and community. It is the salve to the pain and frustration so many people are feeling in the current political climate. It is perfect.

I really enjoyed this, the text was fun yet thoughtful. The illustrations were simple yet powerful. I think this is a very important text considering the current political climate.

A perfectly simple, obvious and easy book for the very young reader, and one that makes a virtue out of all those qualities. The walls on these pages start by being matter-of-fact, firm walls – walls forming squash courts, and keeping animals on their farm. But they soon become the metaphorical walls, those in our minds that keep our communities apart, those that reject the 'other' and collaboration, and so on. You get the gist – it's not as if President Trump hasn't been tweeting adverts for this book for the last couple of years now. I wasn't a huge fan of the artwork – I pity the mouse in the squash court, for one – but it's fine for the target audience.