Title: Battle at Bogs Hollow
Author: Sheri-Lynn Kenny
Publisher: Toplink Publishing, LLC
ISBN: 978-1950256686
Genre: Illustrated Children’s Book
Pages: 24
Reviewed by: Beth Adams
Pacific Book Review
In the beautiful place called Bogs Hollow, three little animals were friends. Tommy, Freddy and Phinny would all play together. Once day some monsters came and began to destroy their home – these beasts were heavy construction equipment sent by humans to repurpose the land. The animals concocted a plan to “monkey wrench” the machinery – that is, put stuff up the exhaust pipes of the equipment, thus making it unable to turn on. Their plan worked and the monster machinery had to be towed away.
This is the synopsis of the illustrated children’s book Battle at Bogs Hollow by author Sheri-Lynn Kenny. Set to a poetic foot, iambic beat, and rhyme, making it very pleasant to read to children, the messaging of story is quite aggressive; as the little animals had to resort to a physical confrontation of sabotage to chase away the construction crew by ruining the equipment. Although the little animals are not human, of course, they are personified by acting in a human problem-solving manner. They have a problem, think about a solution, determine a plan and put forth action – resulting in achieving their goal. Making the devastation of a forest by humans being the enemy gives this reviewer mixed feelings about the message and theme of the book, as nowadays many logging operations plant more new trees then they actually cut.
Yet in the end, although they clear-cut the area and level it off without any trees or fauna left, the animal friends do find a new home – hidden further into the forest where the humans won’t find them – to live happily ever after. So this does bring the book to a “happily ever after” ending, and does convey the message of solving problems, albeit the problem is a controversy between humans and little animal creatures. Battle at Bogs Hollow is impactful – which is something readers want to have in this genre of books. It educates and entertains, while having children root for the ‘little guys’ as they combat the big business of logging and tree harvesting. The matched illustrations create a story-board set of images to follow the book’s theme.
A bedtime story for future Sierra Club members, Battle at Bogs Hollow will establish the foundation of protection of the wildlife and minimize the impact of destroying the beautiful forests of the planet.
