Book Review: Normal Norman – by Tara Lazar

Posted on May 4, 2017 | 18 Comments

 

 

 

 

 

Book: Normal Norman
Author: Tara Lazar
Illustrator: S.britt
Publisher: Sterling Children's Books
Genre: children's picture book; age 4 & up; Preschool & up 
Date: March 1, 2016
Pages: 40
Price: $14.95
My rating: Funny with lots of encouragement to love 
your differences

Normal Norman by Tara Lazar is a book about defining the word normal, and in a very funny way.

The narrator of this story is a junior scientist who is narrating for the first time. She wants it to go well, so she introduces Norman. Norman is an orangutan, an average, ordinary, common creature – or so she thinks.

The junior scientist measures him and finds he is normal in size. Then she discovers Norman eating a snack, but he doesn’t eat bananas, he’s eating pizza. When she peels a banana for him he freaks out! He thinks it’s cruel! It gets more and more abnormal from there.

This is a funny story. Children will love that Norman is a purple orangutan who wears eyeglasses, which should have been the first clues to the narrator that Norman is far from being a normal orangutan. Norman also doesn’t want to sleep in a pile of leaves and branches like orangutans do, and he has a favourite stuffed toy.

The junior scientist narrator is distraught. Nothing is going as planned. Then Norman has an idea.

Children will love Tara Lazar‘s ending for Normal Norman. It’s funny and unexpected. The illustrations by S. Britt are fun and fabulous, making Norman a memorable character.

You can find Normal Norman by Tara Lazar on my BUY THE BOOK page. I also post my reviews on Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Goodreads, and sometimes Chapters.Indigo.

Would you like to leave a comment for me, or for the author and/or illustrator?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings!  🙂

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18 responses to “Book Review: Normal Norman – by Tara Lazar”

  1. Darlene | May 4, 2017 at 8:23 AM | Reply

    Sounds great. What is normal anyway??

    Like

  2. Carolyn Farina | May 4, 2017 at 12:41 PM | Reply

    Such a cute story! Thank you!

    Like

  3. Jilanne Hoffmann | May 4, 2017 at 6:43 PM | Reply

    I love this book! It’s a MUST read!

    Like

  4. jennagrodzicki | May 4, 2017 at 7:24 PM | Reply

    I love Normal Norman! What a great review.

    Like

  5. viviankirkfield | May 5, 2017 at 11:21 PM | Reply

    Great review of a great book, Lynn! Next week I think I’ll be reviewing one of Tara’s other new books…that girl is on fire. 😉

    Like

  6. Judy Sobanski | May 5, 2017 at 11:47 PM | Reply

    Love this story that shows that what’s “normal” for one might not be “normal for another.

    Like

  7. Tara Lazar | May 5, 2017 at 11:54 PM | Reply

    Thank you, Lynn, for featuring Norman. 🙂

    Like

  8. Keila Dawson | May 6, 2017 at 12:37 AM | Reply

    I adore the message in this book. And what’s not to love about a purple gorilla!

    Like

  9. MallyMae | May 16, 2017 at 2:37 PM | Reply

    Thanks for the review! It’s stories like this that inspire me to write. I just may have to pick this one up!

    Like

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