Caramel reviews The Boy with Square Eyes by Juliet Snape and Charles Snape

This week Caramel wanted to talk about a cute little book that was first published in 1987 and has been in the book bunnies library for a while now: The Boy With Square Eyes: A Tale of Televisionitis, by Juliet Snape and Charles Snape. Though the book itself is rather old, the issue of too much screen time has perhaps never been more relevant, as a large number of young people are moored to screens for hours on end during these days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Marshmallow kindly agreed to taking notes and asking followup questions.

Marshmallow: So Caramel, what do you want to say about this book?

Caramel: It’s a fun book! The drawings are good.

M: What is this book about?

C: It’s about a boy who watched television all day and his eyes turned into squares. It’s a good book; you should read it.

M: Thanks, I have already read it! So, what do you think about the pictures?

 C: They’re good, but in a few they’re blocky. 

M: I think that that’s because he has square eyes now. Do you think that this book has a moral or a lesson that the authors were trying to teach to the reader?

C: Yeah, probably, it’s: “do not watch TV all the time!”

M: What do you think about the story?

C: It’s good! Really, really good!

M: What’s the main character’s name?

C: Charlie.

M: So, why is Charlie watching so much TV?

C: Who knows?

M: So here’s another question. Do you think that Televisionitis is a real thing?

C: No, it’s not. 

M: I would think so. Anyways, tell me more about this book.

C: The Boy With Square Eyes is about a boy who watches too much TV. 

M: So, do his eyes get fixed?

C: You’ll have to find out by yourself if you read the book.

M: Who is your favorite character?

C: In this book? 

M: Yeah.

C: Well there are only three people who talk in the book: Charlie, his mom, and the doctor. 

M: Okay then. Never mind. So then which picture is your favorite picture in the book?

C: They were all good. It’s going to be hard to choose.

M: Okay. Then what do you like about this book? 

C: Everything.

M: Can you be a little more specific?

C: Yes.

M: So what do you like about this book?

C: The pictures, the story, and, etcetera. 

M: Can you please be a little more specific than that?

C: The pictures, the story, and the plot.

M: What do you like about the story and the plot?

C: The plot is interesting, and the story is fun to read if you haven’t read it before.

M:  Okay, what genre do you think this is? 

C: I don’t know… Fiction!

M: Oh, yeah, that’s a good one. I was also thinking it could be a parable. So, how would you rate this book? With your three words?

C: Fun, colorful, and hilarious.