[simpleazon-image align=”left” asin=”1908191694″ locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JdZPwdpLL._SL160_.jpg” width=”104″] [simpleazon-link asin=”1908191694″ locale=”us”]The Amazing Adventures of Chilly Billy[/simpleazon-link] by Peter Mayle

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Chilly Billy is a charming character. I like the concept of the little man in the fridge, and I adore the illustrations. The writer makes good use of wit and imagery, as well. Unfortunately, the author inserts himself into the story from the very beginning and continues to intrude throughout. This violates the first rule of writing: show don’t tell. Also, it is unclear, especially in the first two chapters, what the age is of the author’s intended audience. At first, he appears to be addressing a toddler or preschooler. He doesn’t seem to fully appreciate the maturity of the second or third grader who would likely be reading this book. He is inconsistent in that he tells his reader to sneak up on the fridge (only a preschooler will fall for that) while later giving that same reader simple recipes to try (with parental assistance). The writing also needs serious editing for grammatical errors that include multiple sentence fragments and far too many sentences that start with “and.” Overall, the story has promise and the illustrator is sublime, but much work is needed on the writing.

In accordance with FTC guidelines, please note that I received a free copy from the publicist in exchange for an honest review.