Queen Vernita's Visitors Review

Becoming queen of a nation would be a dream come true for many and the idea of absolute power is often the subject of many fantasies. But the view from the top isn't always as rosy as it first appears and this lonely- at- the- top theme is the basis for Queen Vernita's Visitors, a children's book by Dawn Menge.  

Book Commentary: 
 
Queen Vernita's Visitors is a book aimed at elementary school- age children and it emphasizes learning the months of the year and the days of the week. This book also focuses on the importance of friends and how life at the top of the world isn't necessarily as great as it sounds if you don't have anyone with whom to share friendships.

The friend theme is important in this book, but equally important, Queen Vernita's Visitors attempts to help children learn the months of the year and the days of the week. Each month, Queen Vernita invites a friend to spend time with her for the duration of the month. With each month, the book is careful to point out the number of days in each month and the days of the week. With each passing month, Queen Vernita's Visitors describes one of the friends and then lists out, Monday through Sunday, what activities were going to take place during those days of the week throughout the month. The book doesn't list out a different activity for each individual day- that would be too much and young readers would grow impatient. Instead, Queen Vernita's Visitors sticks with seven activities and explains that these activities will take place on all of the Mondays, all of the Tuesdays, etc., for the entire month. 

Queen Vernita's Visitors is a very repetitive book, but it was most certainly intended that way because its main goal is to teach children the months of the year, the days of the week, and the number of days in each month. The book also helps kids learn to associate certain activities with certain months. In April, for example, the weather started to warm up so Vernita's friend Cale showed up with her dog, ready to play in the warmer temperatures- even if it rained. In August, the weather was hot so Vernita planned a visit to the mountains with her August friend, Hannah. They chose going to the mountains because the weather is somewhat cooler at the higher altitudes. 

This book is illustrated by Bobbi Switzer and it includes a multitude of colors on every page. The illustrations are good, but they are not all as creative as others. Take June, for example. This illustration is rather plain and doesn't grab your attention. But the illustration for November is better, with a drawing of a large picnic table covered with Thanksgiving foods and surrounded by ten hungry, happy guests. These illustrations are a little inconsistent, but they are still pretty good with each one depicting a different activity. 

Bottom Line Viewpoint:

Friends are important, and Queen Vernita's Visitors stresses the importance of friends along with the importance of learning the calendar and the days of the week. The repetition of this book might frustrate some readers, but most little kids like it when things are repeated and it certainly drives home the book's most important lessons.