vocalise

This book suffers from not knowing who the intended audience should be. The Boxcar Children was originally a chapter book, but this version is condensed into only 32 pages and is apparently meant for a younger audience. None of the events from the original book are left out, so the pace is very rushed, and I think that kids will have a hard time following the plot because of the quick changes and lack of explanation. The dialog is incredibly stilted - this reads like a bad early reader or book report. Plus, the illustrations are fairly awful.