This book is kind of odd. The art is lovely, but it seems as though it was trying to do too much. The book starts out with a little girl with brown skin looking at a device. A ghost-like version of her appears and introduces itself as Al (short for algorithm). Al tries to convince the child that all that matters in the likes/hearts of the echo chamber that the child experiences virtually. The child does push back some and by the end decides "I'll go rhythm" & joins a band instead.

The book rhymes, a lot, almost too much. It seems like it was going for a Sneetches type feel but a lot of the intent & meaning is lost in the attempts to rhyme. I'm an adult & it took me several times to read some pages to really get what it meant.

It's like someone realized that the words "I'll go rhythm" sound like algorithm and started from that spot instead of trying to write a real book about sensible use of internet/social media. It makes it seem like there are only two choices, the mind-numbing 'likes' on social media or real life. It is more complicated than that & so is the concept of algorithm. This isn't a good starting place for kids about this topic. I'm not sure if there are better books out there about this concept. But this book just isn't it.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* get where this was going but i think its too confusing for most kids, sure maybe those kids who are 7 with their own tiktok but i none of the kids i know would understand this book at all

The book is has beautiful illustrations with a great message, but I think the way it is expressed will make it difficult for young readers to understand. The author has rhymed all the words, which makes it sound sophisticated and poetic, but the words and phrases used are very uncommon in practical life, even for native English speakers. I am fluent in English, yet I had to re-read many parts of the book to understand it's unnecessarily complicated idea. I think this book will do well if simple words are used, this book could be a great favourite among children.

This is a fun book that has the somewhat hidden message of teaching children to be wary of what they see on the internet, and to create their own thoughts and ideas. I liked some of the unique ways of describing these algorithms that take place online, and this could be a good way to explain those concepts to young readers. I do think some of it was very wordy, and might be geared towards an older audience.

Cute concept. Forces and/ or near rhymes and confusing lines like “others might say something that you agree not” make this not suited to reading with children. Algorithm as a name paired with I’ll go rhythm is also a difficult construct - in English, we don’t say “I’ll go rhythm”…maybe I’ll go play or I’ll go jam.

A decent read. I liked the rhyming, and the illustrations. It was a bit of a head scratcher as the text felt a bit confusing as this is directed towards children. I do believe the message is good, but just executed a bit complicated.

A very interesting kids book about how social media "likes" don't equate to making us feel better or valued. Happiness comes from making connections with others instead of external sources - such a great message! And cute illustrations too.

This seemingly simplistic children's story was a cautionary tale about getting sucked into digital experiences. Told in rhyming verse, and illustrated with childlike drawings, the story seems so innocent but tells about much bigger dangers that we as adults succumb to as well as children.

I think the message is very important and the play on words of Algorithm and I'll Go Rhythm was a meaningful way to get the idea across. This would be a good way to start conversations about safety in the digital age and the dangers that aren't as evident, such as confirmation bias and losing one's sense of self to the approval of others.

This book would be a great tool for counselors, teachers and librarians to kick off important conversations.

I appreciate the idea but I feel kids this age will find it a bit difficult to read and understand this storybook. It's a bit towards the philosophical side which might confuse the kids.

The artstyle is basic and the illustrations are basic as well.

Thank you, author/artist, for the advance reader copy.

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

This one just wasn't for me. I couldn't quite get the concept. There was too much going on in the book and the pages were cluttered with way too much text.

Unfortunately, I didn't love this. I appreciate the message, for the most part (I'm the LAST person who'd defend the way social media and its corporate overlords have infiltrated society toward mostly toxic ends), though I do think the focus on echo chambers/bubbles was a bit oversimplistic and villainizes the Internet to an extreme degree. Also, the rhyme scheme was sometimes ignored, at that made the thought of one day reading it aloud to a child seem difficult...