![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Pedro likes everything to be perfect.
His pile of toys …
His roly-polies …
And even his friends.
When Pedro meets Poppy, he thinks he’s met the perfect friend, until they enter the school talent show together. Poppy’s approach is definitely not perfect. But maybe she can show Pedro that perfection is not always what it’s cracked up to be …
Pedro likes everything to be perfect and he works very hard to make sure that he does everything perfectly. He is looking for a perfect friend but it’s not until he meets Poppy that he discovers someone who meets his own exacting standards.
Pedro wants to team up with Poppy to do a hula-hoop routine at the school talent show but when he goes over to her house to rehearse, he discovers that Poppy has some decidedly un-perfect habits. Even worse, they can’t get their routine right at all and Poppy doesn’t seem to understand that they need to make it perfect!
So Pedro decides to do the talent show alone and after a lot of practice, he routine starts off perfectly until all of a sudden, everything goes wrong and Pedro doesn’t have a clue what to do?
Simon Philip’s lovely picture book about not putting pressure on yourself by trying to be perfect all the time and instead just focus on enjoying yourself, features delightful illustrations by Ella Okstad that convey a real sense of energy and movement. Young readers will enjoy the colours and the mischievous sense of humour and adults will enjoy the book’s central message.
Pedro is a really well written and well drawn character. Philip and Okstad do a great job of showing his quirks and need for perfection and how that leads to him being quite judgmental about other children and their habits. Poppy is a great counterfoil who can perform tasks to the same standard as Pedro but is actually much more go-with-the-flow. The events build up to the talent show where Pedro’s worst fears come true and special mention should go to Okstad’s illustrations here, which reinforce how alone and small he feels up on stage.
All in all it’s a really lovely story that could easily be read and re-read by young readers and adults alike and I would check out more books my Philip and Okstad.
The Verdict:
Simon Philip’s lovely picture book about not putting pressure on yourself by trying to be perfect all the time and instead just focus on enjoying yourself, features delightful illustrations by Ella Oksted that convey a real sense of energy and movement. Young readers will enjoy the colours and the mischievous sense of humour and adults will enjoy the book’s central message.
PERFECT PEDRO was released in the United Kingdom on 7 August 2025. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
Pedro likes everything to be perfect.
His pile of toys …
His roly-polies …
And even his friends.
When Pedro meets Poppy, he thinks he’s met the perfect friend, until they enter the school talent show together. Poppy’s approach is definitely not perfect. But maybe she can show Pedro that perfection is not always what it’s cracked up to be …
Pedro likes everything to be perfect and he works very hard to make sure that he does everything perfectly. He is looking for a perfect friend but it’s not until he meets Poppy that he discovers someone who meets his own exacting standards.
Pedro wants to team up with Poppy to do a hula-hoop routine at the school talent show but when he goes over to her house to rehearse, he discovers that Poppy has some decidedly un-perfect habits. Even worse, they can’t get their routine right at all and Poppy doesn’t seem to understand that they need to make it perfect!
So Pedro decides to do the talent show alone and after a lot of practice, he routine starts off perfectly until all of a sudden, everything goes wrong and Pedro doesn’t have a clue what to do?
Simon Philip’s lovely picture book about not putting pressure on yourself by trying to be perfect all the time and instead just focus on enjoying yourself, features delightful illustrations by Ella Okstad that convey a real sense of energy and movement. Young readers will enjoy the colours and the mischievous sense of humour and adults will enjoy the book’s central message.
Pedro is a really well written and well drawn character. Philip and Okstad do a great job of showing his quirks and need for perfection and how that leads to him being quite judgmental about other children and their habits. Poppy is a great counterfoil who can perform tasks to the same standard as Pedro but is actually much more go-with-the-flow. The events build up to the talent show where Pedro’s worst fears come true and special mention should go to Okstad’s illustrations here, which reinforce how alone and small he feels up on stage.
All in all it’s a really lovely story that could easily be read and re-read by young readers and adults alike and I would check out more books my Philip and Okstad.
The Verdict:
Simon Philip’s lovely picture book about not putting pressure on yourself by trying to be perfect all the time and instead just focus on enjoying yourself, features delightful illustrations by Ella Oksted that convey a real sense of energy and movement. Young readers will enjoy the colours and the mischievous sense of humour and adults will enjoy the book’s central message.
PERFECT PEDRO was released in the United Kingdom on 7 August 2025. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
