The Little Mower That Could

This is a cute story overall, but I have to sadly admit that it is just too wordy and filled with so much information that for a five-year-old and bedtime, it just gets too much. My son absolutely loves lawn mowers and the idea of this was so exciting, but when we finally got down to reading it the first time, he wanted to stop after a few pages (it's about 32 pages and full on paragraphs on each page). Now, we will try it again so maybe as he gets older, he might be able to have the focus to enjoy it, but it wasn't what was expected, unfortunately.

This book is creative, fun, colorful with a great underlying message! My son who is lawn mower obsessed just adored it!

Yellow ball is stuck in the tall grass and can't get out. All the different lawn mowers are asked to save her. All the various types of machines are confident they can get the job done. All except the green electric motor. However, a great can-do attitude helps the mower rescue his friend. Cute book with cheerful illustrations celebrating that we can accomplish anything with the right attitude and support of our friends.

The great thing about this book is that it is all about lawn mowers! With pictures of lawn mowers! And there is a page about weed whackers, hedge clippers, leaf blowers, and all the other lawn equipment my 2 year old is OBSESSED with! The pictures are cute and clear. The only negative is that the writing is often a bit awkward. The reason seems to be that the author was very careful to mirror The Little Engine that Could, seemingly to the level of sentence-by-sentence. But that book was first published in 1930, making it 87 years old! So you're starting with source material that already feels a little bit out of date. This leads you into some sentences about "the otherwise sparsely lit area" that do not flow off the tongue easily, nor are they easily understood by the young crowd this book will appeal to. It's not entirely a bad thing, it's good for kids to hear a lot of different words and have a chance to learn some new ones. But I guess I feel like this book is a little bit too heavy on the seldom-used vocabulary, and some of the sentences are just plain awkward. But hey, my son loves to read this one (it is all about lawn mowers!) so it's still a winner in our house!

Great picture book for my 2yr. old great grandson.

Awful children's book. I couldn't even read through it all. No rhyming, no flow, just choppy run-on paragraphs! Waaaaay too much detail for a children's book. I will be donating it.

This is a horrible children's book. First, it rips off the Watty Piper classic "The Little Engine that Could". Now, I will grant you that old "Watty" ripped it off from several other sources first, but his remains the gold standard for retelling the fable about hard work and perseverance we have all come to know and love. This book would be fine if it were an homage in that tradition, but the language is clumsy and languishes about in long, nonrhythmic paragraphs. The character development is terrible too; the other mowers are just jerks until the weak and feeble electric mower that no one loves finally grows a pair. Finally, this person wrote a bad book and then had the audacity to solicit for a review on Amazon on the back jacket (and that was after the self indulgent prattle of a biography they included). My son is obsessed with lawn mowers and likes the pictures in this book, so I make up my own words as I read it, but when he loses interest I am throwing it away. I am not even going to donate it because I think it will actually make children worse from reading it or being exposed to it.

Very disappointed, making me not want to order any more children’s books on line because I need to see them.
Way too many words. All those words not needed to tell what otherwise, is a cute story. Too bad. It doesn’t even hold MY attention span... can’t make it through a page without forcing myself to focus... so certainly not appropriate for any 2 year old I know! As for encouragement for the author... you have a lovely engaging story here and great illustrations but you need to edit edit edit ! Half the words could have captured your audience & told the story well. I hope you keep trying.

I got this for my 19 mo old, who's obsessed with lawnmowers. I agree with other negative reviews -- it's just not appropriate for young kids. It's too long, the story too complicated, and each page has a big paragraph with words that are too advanced. I'm a little freaked out that this author has apparently found success with multiple children's books. I did keep it, though, because all my little man wants to do is stare at the lawnmowers, so I make up a story to go with the pictures he likes. *shrug*

When I was growing up, my parents read to me many childrens books but the book I remember the most was - The Little Engine That Could. My wife bought this book for me to read to our one year old son since she knew I loved that book and I also do part time landscaping work. Although my son doesnt seem too interested in the words I speak while I read, he really enjoys the pictures and enjoys watching me get excited when I read the book. It is a simple story but it carries an important message for children- to keep at something no matter how much you doubt yourself. It is a modern day -Little Engine That Could and I will continue to read it to our son for years to come. I am grateful for the author who wrote this book.