Dash and Nikki and The Jellybean Game - Anthony C. Delauney - ★★★★.¼

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AUTHOR: Anthony C. Delauney
ILLUSTRATOR: Chiara Civati
GENRE: Children's Picture Book.
PUBLICATION DATE: December 7, 2021
RATING: 4.25 stars.

This book is an interesting and a fun-filled way for children to learn many valuable life lessons.

Dash and Nikki are siblings who find a new game prepared for them by their mother. The reward involves jellybeans, and the task seems quite simple at first. However they both soon realise that the game is not as easy as it sounds.

The content is broadly based on the Stanford marshmallow experiment on delayed gratification, which proved that those who wait patiently reap greater success in future. This complicated concept is put forth in a straightforward and easy-to-understand story that children will definitely enjoy.

The tale is written in simple rhythmic verse. While I’m not a fan of forced rhymes in children’s books (I prefer prose-based content), this book doesn’t go overboard in fitting in rhyming words compulsively. The meter has a very relaxed and natural tone, hence the narrative flows easily.

As I said at the start, there are many important lessons that the book aims to deliver. Some of these are obvious: it’s important to share, one must have patience,… Some lessons were deeper: how savings grow over time if we wait, how we can avoid temptation by hiding it from our eyes (metaphorically, and maybe even literally) Kids might need the help of their parents/guardians to understand the deeper financial implications of the lessons, but the basic moral comes out easily: save now to enjoy later. Of course, parents will need to deliver one more lesson that isn’t outright included in the book: don’t eat all those jellybeans at once! Patience is needed even when you reap the rewards of your success. 😉

The illustrations were pretty good, nothing outstanding but definitely not bad. Let’s be honest, this isn’t a book you would pick up for its sketches but for the message it imparts. And there, the story does very well.

Overall, this book would be a good way for children to learn the values of savings, patience and sharing. It also subtly involves mathematics through the counting of jellybeans. The language is suitable for beginner readers but even slightly older children will find value in this book. Recommended to parents, schools and libraries.

My thanks to Mascot Books and NetGalley for the ARC of “Dash and Nikki and The Jellybean Game”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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