I like the photographs of Alpaca Lunch. The story is very much in the theme and tone of Jennifer and John Churchman’s other books, which I can appreciate, but have always felt these stories were a bit too sentimental for my tastes. But: Oh, my goodness! They are cute and fuzzy animals! And Yeah Vermont! We rock!
The Churchman’s live and raise their animals on their Vermont farm. Each of their stories show what each animals job or role is on the farm and what their personality is like. They have all the human emotions of curiosity, fear, determination, happiness, love and more. The humanizing of each of the animals is shown by the fact the books are all told from the point of view of the animal featured. Alpaca Lunch is the fourth book in the Sweet Pea & Friends series. The Easter Surprise will be released in February 2019.
The photographs are what make the Churchman’s books for me. They are altered to give a dreamier state as well as edited to fit the storyline they wish to tell. Yet, these are the real creatures of the farm. They are extremely busy as there is no spot unfilled on the page. They are photographs after all. There is no white space. This could be over stimulation for some people, but at the same time you can read the images and make a story to go along with them.
Great bedtime stories, they are slightly on the longer side and not a lot of action so the very young might not sit for them, but they will enjoy the extremely bright artwork.