Hey, Bruce!: An Interactive Book (Mother Bruce Series)

This kind of book has been done many times as far as children's books goes, but Ryan T Higgins has never done one quite like this, and definitely not for the Bruce series. It's catchy, humorous (even for older kids and adults in my opinion), and of course the kids love it as usual. It's written in the same style as all of Higgin's novels (almost like a comic book) which takes a little getting used to on the first go but works well, especially for older kids. As always, if you haven't read any other's from the Bruce series I highly recommend you start there (Mother Bruce and on from there) to get familiar with the quirks of each character or you may not understand or even find this to be humorous.Spoilers belowAs far as the story line goes, cute, funny, very typical of Higgins. The characters are all in character and familiar. The mice are up to their typical shenanigans, Bruce is up to his typical grump, in this case Bruce would like to sleep and the Mice are convincing the reader throughout the book to make that more and more difficult all the while claiming to be assisting his request for nap. He also uses a more modern and sarcastic literary style which I appreciate. Has even me getting a few small laughs here and there as pianos and things come crashing down out of the sky towards poor Bruce. It reads like a comic book in a way.. as all of his novels. Most of the storyline is just displayed in photos while the speech from the critters is displayed as speech bubbles above their heads. It will take a little getting used to for kids and adults as you have to in some way show or explain who's talking but the kids get used to it, just pointing as you read can even be enough for most kids. Overall it's well written, worth 5 stars.The illustrations this time around are a bit more plain than usual. Higgin's used to do more elaborate illustrations throughout his book but the backgrounds on more recent entries into his collection seem to be more simple. most of the backgrounds are just plain color. I'm not sure why he is heading this direction, and I don't necessarily dislike it as I doesn't take away from the story much, but it is something notable. He is an amazing artist and I rather enjoy his work and I miss the full page backgrounds. Overall though, what is there of his illustrations is very good as usual and consistent with all previous novels as far as the characters go. He has a very neat style where he seems to be drawing on watermarked paper or something? It really adds some serious depth to his characters and I've noticed this since the first book and always thought it was neat. Look closely as you read through the book and I'm sure you'll know what I'm referring to. It's very clever and I rather enjoy the style.In the end I give it 5 stars. Overall it's an enjoyable book, as usual. If you already have all the other Bruce books it is a no-brainer to add this to your collection. If you don't, I will always recommend to start with the first books and go from there.

Who doesn’t like Bruce(a Children’s Book) & this one is interactive! My 1st granddaughter laughed herself silly…So much fun to read!

My son loves the Bruce books. We have almost all of them. This one did not disappoint. As always, great artwork, funny for kids and adults. All around great books.

This quickly became the favorite Bruce book! They love the interactive aspect of the book and all the silly things that happen.

Great interactive book for preschoolers. Very fun to read and play along!

For months I’ve been intrigued with this authors “Bruce” series. I purchased a couple of the books (they only come in hardback) to take a look, and I’m glad I purchased more than one title. This book, though cute, was elementary along the lines of a Dr. Seuss book in the way it challenged the reader to participate in the storytelling. Bruce is a wonderful character and his mice friends are smart and entertaining. I recommend this book for anyone reading to a preschool child or an early elementary to read on their own.

I adore Bruce. He is my spirit animal. I can’t get enough of these books. Illustrations are amazing. My kids are older school age and we still read these often.

Honestly, I am just thankful to get a break from reading Mother Bruce and Be Quiet! This was a fun book! I love sharing moments with my son while he laughs! We have read it about 40 times and he still laughs like the first time! It is a fun twist with Bruce!

A little costly but my granddaughter really enjoys it.