If you’ve been reading Pages and Paws for very long – say, twenty minutes or so – you know that Mom and I are pretty picky about what we do and don’t accept for review. We get tons of review requests. We accept less than half. Those that color outside our Submission Guidelines typically go straight to the Big Kitty Litter Box in the Sky.

But every once in a while we might be willing to bend if the review request is for a children’s book. Emphasis on might. That was the case with the Maji Muki Storybook for Children.

We knew when we got it that the requester hadn’t read our Submission Guidelines. (You’d be surprised how obvious this is. We always know who has and who hasn’t read our Guidelines. Always.)

Clues

Getting a request addressed to “Dear Children’s Books Aficionado” was a clue. Ditto the subject line: Something New in Children’s Books. Someone didn’t read our Submission Guidelines. And sent the whole book before we greenlighted it for review. Another No-No. But, hey. It’s a children’s book, right? So we decided to flex a bit.

Here’s the 4-1-1:

The Magi Muki Storybook for Children is set in a secret forest. (Kimber: Not sure about Thelo, the leader of the wild dogs who’s always trying to introduce “evil magic” into the forest and wreck everything. Sounds like something a feline would do. Hmpf!)

Anyway, Ropoloey the bear wants to be chosen again as the animal leader in the Maji Muki Forest. He’s ready for the big choosing day. But Fabulous Franklin (“Fab Frankie”) the fox also wants the job.

When Ropoloey visits some of the other animals to hand out Rupo fruit and Deemis juice, he’s surprised to find out that Fab Frankie has already made the rounds in the buying votes department.

After investigating, the bear finds out that Fab Frankie met with some nasty Nuls from Dismal Swamp who deliver the fruit and juice goods. With one catch: Nuls are the enemies of the Golden Light that keeps the Forest safe. Even worse, humans have been seen in the area.

When a secret plot with the humans is revealed, it turns out that Frankie may not be so fab after all. Moral: Just because someone gives out nice treats doesn’t mean they’ll make a good animal leader. (Duh.) The story ends with a beautiful moon “smiling down on a forest full of love, peace and harmony and marvelous magic.”

Gag me with a sugar coma. Ditto the whole “Vote for the environmentally friendly bear” Bear Dance thing. But whatevs.

Thin & Predictable

The plot has potential but it’s as thin as an onion skin. As predictable as a metronome.

Oops

Also, we gotta wonder what happened to the rest of the book? Oh, and that “new” thing mentioned in the subject line of the review request? A quick gander at Google indicates that this book was first published in 2017. And clocked in at 216 pages. It supposedly has twelve animal stories. The version sent to us was just over 50 pages and had a single story. As in, one.

‘You had ONE Job…’

So, where are the rest? No idea. And frankly, we don’t care. Cuz Mom and I? Believe you me, we have better things to do than chase down incomplete, haphazard and sloppy submissions that don’t follow our Submission Guidelines.

Submissions, Submissions!

Altogether now, along with Tevye (sort of)…

For children’s books worth the time, see our reviews of:

New Children’s Book ‘The Treehouse’ Gets High Marks

New Picture Book Takes the ‘Scary’ Out of Hospitals