Little Nessie

I know that some people will object to this review, but I simply have got to get this off my chest. This book HAS to be a giant metaphor for sexual awakening in a young boy. It MUST be. I know you're probably thinking I'm some kind of perverted freak with my mind in the gutter. Well, you're wrong. You don't have to be a freak to start raising eyebrows when the author makes much fuss about little Colin "playing with" the (rather serpentine) Nessie in his bathtub. In fact, the author rarely uses descriptive verbs, opting to have Colin "play with" Nessie all over the place. This is either poor writing or ingenius innuendo. And then there's Chapter Three... oh god, Chapter Three... in which Colin's young male friend comes over to play. Yes, the boys revel in the secret fun of "playing with" "Little Nessie" together. Complete with a crude illustration of one boy clutching the other boy from behind, Chapter Three just keeps getting worse and worse, sentence after vague, seamy sentence. The whole chapter -- I mean the ENTIRE thing -- is one huge double entendre. The English language has never been so wickedly abused. So before you start giving this review a poor rating, please read Chapter Three for yourself. Just TRY to read it. You'll see. I still gave Little Nessie 5 stars, though, because I laughed so hard my abs were sore the next day.

I had no idea what the reading level of this book would be. Probably my own fault.... I bought it for my 3 year old who is Nessie-obsessed. It's a little over his head, but my 6 year old loves it. Very cute.

Little Nessie is a wonderfully delightful children's story. It is a new take on a much loved Scottish myth. My children (ages 8 and 10) loved the story.