Let this be a lesson to me on age appropriate reading. Whales on Stilts, if you didn't immediately surmise, is a book. It's a book on cd that our wonderful children's librarian recommended for David. And David has dug into it with gusto. We've had to listen to this three hour book for the last week solid.

I'm not really thrilled with the ridiculous plot: a ten year old girl discovers that her father's boss is actually a half whale half human mutant bent on taking over the world, and she saves the day. I can enjoy five ridiculous things before morning and often do, but this one just seemed unnecessarily over the top.

I'm really not thrilled with the ironic, sardonic, winking tone. I'm willing to believe there is a factory that makes stilts for whales. Why do I get the feeling the author is laughing at me for taking him seriously? The end particularly bothers me where the reporters tell the girl that saved the day that if only she were pretty, they would believe she was the hero. I realize that the author is mocking just that convention in writing; he makes it abundantly clear. But David doesn't get it. He's taking everything at face value. That's developmentally appropriate. Which means this book isn't. John pointed out that the book is listed as appropriate for 10 year olds. Ok, despite his large vocabulary and wide ranging interests, I will be respecting those recommendations.

We did get to discuss the following new words:

baleen
etc.
mutant
plankton
unconscious