A Bad Case of Stripes (Scholastic Bookshelf)

This was my favorite book growing up. The pictures completely captured my attention and I love the major theme in the book- don’t be afraid to love what you love. You don’t want to turn into something you’re not. I purchased this book to give to a child in my life so that they can experience the same joy and wonder that I did growing up.

My mom used to read this book to me when I was a kid. It has some really fascinating imagery, some might find it disturbing, but to me it is just intriguing. There is a lot of body horror in it, but in spite of that, I wouldn't say it isn't child friendly. It's not like there is any gore or anything. I also always thought it had a strong message about enjoying the things you like, even if they aren't popular. I think that is very important in this day and age where sometimes enjoying things that are different from the norm leads to online ridicule. It can be easy to forget that nobody cares that you enjoy Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen outside of randos on the internet who you likely will never interact with. Since this book had such a positive impact on me growing up, I decided to buy it as a gift for one of my baby cousins.

The book arrived in good condition. The children have enjoyed reading it and looking at the colorful illustrations. It also teaches a great lesson about being yourself and not giving in to others ideas of what you should be.

I love this book for children and highly recommend this for parents and early childhood educators.

Great book

Bought this for the kids in my classroom, they really enjoyed listening to it and love to look at the pictures. They’re 4 year olds

My first memory I have of this is book is of me stealing my sister's copy from our shared bookshelf and hiding it in my room, so I could keep it for myself. I loved it that much. I couldn't remember why I loved it so much until revisited it as an adult. I was not only addicted to the fun colors, but I also loved the meaning behind this story. The story is about a girl named Camilla Cream who is afraid of liking things that her friends don't like. So, she gets taught a lesson by having pattern-changing skin. When she goes to school after figuring out she is not physically ill, she finds that everyone laughs at her. Her skin patterns ends up dramatizing what's its like for people to laugh at you, even when you're different. It teaches kids that no matter what, not everyone is going to like you or your choices, but it's worth it to just be yourself. I feel like this is a fantastic lesson to engrain in kids' heads early because once they hit middle school, being liked by everyone usually becomes top priority. Thinking back on my own middle school life though, I never seemed to care what people thought of my wardrobe choices. I felt confident (most of the time) and enjoyed being gawked at in the halls for wearing odd things. They weren't super weird clothing, it was just different. I'm going to pretend like this book helped me become who I am today and who knows, maybe it did.

I loved this book as a kid and this has quickly become my kids favorite as well