Review of Mr. No Face
Posted: 08 Dec 2024, 15:43
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Mr. No Face" by Darrell W Henry Sr..]
The book, Mr. No Face by Darrell W. Henry, is a whimsically illustrated, touching story about the value of exploring who someone is before making a judgment based on what you see, rather than what you learn about them.
The author, Mr. Henry, does a decent job addressing the unfair judgment of the main character, Mr. No Face. Mr. No Face experiences teasing and name-calling from children in the park for no apparent reason. As the story progresses, a little boy shows kindness and interest in him. They become a musical duo singing the National Anthem for all to enjoy. People give them money tips, and they celebrate with some ice cream.
I loved the book's theme of “not judging a book by its cover.” Too often we judge our fellow humans because of how they dress, speak, or look. I know I am guilty of doing this, even as an adult. If something is foreign to us or different from what we are used to, we tend to misunderstand it and sometimes even fear it. Unfortunately, there is no exception regarding people we don’t know. The author skillfully illustrates how a child’s unconditional acceptance can touch the heart of a lonely and unfairly misunderstood man.
The sections after the story were reminiscent of a guided reading book that I would have used when I was teaching. The “comprehension” questions were a nice touch. I thought the “glossary-like” vocabulary words with accompanying sentences added value. “Who is Mr. No Face?” gave us more information about the author and his purpose for writing the book. I was confused, however, when at the end of the book, there was some repeated information in the paragraph “About the Author.”
Although I liked the message of this book, the editing (or lack thereof) made reading and enjoying the book difficult. Numerous errors impacted the flow of the story. On some pages, words such as “anyone” or “but” were overused. The highlighting of phrases on some pages was distracting. I found the inconsistent use of one correct form of "national anthem" to be off-putting. The font was different from page to page, whether it be color, size, or type. On a few pages, there were two different fonts used within a paragraph. On the last page (which is your last impression), there were multiple errors.
I give this book a 3 out of 5 due to the extremely sloppy editing referenced above and the unremarkable writing style. Ideas were clumsily written and repeated. The heart of this story was in the right place, but I think, with a professional editor looking at the book before it was published, it could have been a much better product. This was disappointing because I would have liked to have given the book a better rating.
******
Mr. No Face
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
The book, Mr. No Face by Darrell W. Henry, is a whimsically illustrated, touching story about the value of exploring who someone is before making a judgment based on what you see, rather than what you learn about them.
The author, Mr. Henry, does a decent job addressing the unfair judgment of the main character, Mr. No Face. Mr. No Face experiences teasing and name-calling from children in the park for no apparent reason. As the story progresses, a little boy shows kindness and interest in him. They become a musical duo singing the National Anthem for all to enjoy. People give them money tips, and they celebrate with some ice cream.
I loved the book's theme of “not judging a book by its cover.” Too often we judge our fellow humans because of how they dress, speak, or look. I know I am guilty of doing this, even as an adult. If something is foreign to us or different from what we are used to, we tend to misunderstand it and sometimes even fear it. Unfortunately, there is no exception regarding people we don’t know. The author skillfully illustrates how a child’s unconditional acceptance can touch the heart of a lonely and unfairly misunderstood man.
The sections after the story were reminiscent of a guided reading book that I would have used when I was teaching. The “comprehension” questions were a nice touch. I thought the “glossary-like” vocabulary words with accompanying sentences added value. “Who is Mr. No Face?” gave us more information about the author and his purpose for writing the book. I was confused, however, when at the end of the book, there was some repeated information in the paragraph “About the Author.”
Although I liked the message of this book, the editing (or lack thereof) made reading and enjoying the book difficult. Numerous errors impacted the flow of the story. On some pages, words such as “anyone” or “but” were overused. The highlighting of phrases on some pages was distracting. I found the inconsistent use of one correct form of "national anthem" to be off-putting. The font was different from page to page, whether it be color, size, or type. On a few pages, there were two different fonts used within a paragraph. On the last page (which is your last impression), there were multiple errors.
I give this book a 3 out of 5 due to the extremely sloppy editing referenced above and the unremarkable writing style. Ideas were clumsily written and repeated. The heart of this story was in the right place, but I think, with a professional editor looking at the book before it was published, it could have been a much better product. This was disappointing because I would have liked to have given the book a better rating.
******
Mr. No Face
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon