Warning: Do not attempt this

Whoops! but It Wasn't Me is a story about a brother and sister, Charlie and Lola. In this book, Charlie makes an extra special rocket that he has worked on for many many days, 10 days to be exact. He tells Lola not to touch his extra special rocket that he worked so hard on as it is VERY breakable.

Then Charlie sets out to go see his friend. Lola says but what will she do when he is gone? Her imaginary friend, Soren Lorensen always plays with her. Soren Lorensen and Lola start playing with two hyenas and one elephant. The elephant starts crying as his feelings are hurt, the hyenas are laughing at him!! Lola says they cannot leave the sad elephant behind. The elephant wants to go to Elephant Land. Soren Lorensen says but how? Then she points to the extra special rocket. Lola says but Charlie said not to ever play with it as it is very breakable!! Soren says yes but what he meant was that if we did play with it, to be extra careful with it. Lola agrees and reaches for Charlie's home made rocket. It is very high up and Lola cannot keep it from falling to the floor. The rocket breaks apart. Oh no.

Charlie notices the broken rocket right away even though Soren and Lola have agreed to "act normally so he will never know." Lola says no she did not break it. Charlie knows that she did and says she is lying. While talking to Soren, Lola gets the idea to blame it on someone else. It is all Ellie, the elephant's fault.

Ellie insisted on going for a ride in the rocket so they all squeezed into the rocket. All went well until they landed on Elephant Land. The rocket broke into pieces. Charlie says right!!! and claims he is going to tell their Mum. Soren says I do not think that he believed that. Lola is worried and says well if I tell the truth, will Charlie like me again? Her imaginary friend says maybe if you say sorry too. So Lola knocks at Charlie's door saying Soren really wants to apologize for breaking it. Charlie closes his door again. Lola breaks down and tells the whole truth, that it was she who knocked the rocket off of the shelf and she is truly sorry for it. Now Charlie accepts her apology and says "at least you've told the truth." Lola sees now that Charlie has repaired the broken rocket! Lola says that she likes it, and Charlie says emphatically "don't touch it!"

This was a story that my daughter and I both loved. It was a fun read and had a great message in it. Charlie and Lola are lovable, realistic children who come alive in Charlie and Lola books. Even though I thought Charlie was a girl from his pictures in the book, my daughter has set me straight. Now I know that he is a boy. A big brother, little sister dynamic duo, the pair regularly get into scrapes and teach children who read their books about life lessons. Is it okay to lie to get out of trouble? Is your first instinct to lie the best way to go? Do imaginary friends really give the best advice? Why did Charlie not put the rocket in a higher place? How did Charlie fix the rocket so quickly? How did that huge elephant fit into the small rocket? Those are just some of the questions that we got out of this book and discussed.

The pictures in the book are basic. Bold, classic colors in the pictures really stand out. They pop and catch the eye. Cartoon "flat" people and animals. The rocket looks like a art masterpiece and has a blue ribbon on it that has 1 on it. The Whoops! but It Wasn't Me book does not include instructions on building the special rocket but does have a list of what went into building the rocket. The list includes: 3 cereal boxes, 10 yogurt cups, 28 bottle tops, 157 sweet wrappers, a roll of extra wide tin foil, 2 tubes of glue, 3 pots of paint, and a half a roll of tape. (Special shoutout to my daughter for helping me remember this list of items.)

What is so good about THIS product?

Lola learns telling the truth is the best way to go and learns not to lie. Bright colorful pictures. Imaginary friend and inventive pretend play helps this book come alive.

What is unique about this product?

Children will want to build the rocket!

Is it worth the price?

Yes, we love this book.

There has to be some bad to this book, right?

My daughter says only because the special rocket got broken.

Any warnings people should be aware of?

Do not attempt to put an elephant into your home made rocket as it probably will not fit, unless it is a baby elephant and then it might.

Final verdict:

Great fun book that we both recommend for kids and parents alike!

pablo the reader

“Everybody, no matter how old you are, is around 24, 25 in their heart.” Bruce Willis