Rot is contest book of a different color that kids will love

For us, Rot, The Cutest In The World, reminds us of one of our favorite children’s books. You see, Rot is a mutant potato. I didn’t know that a mutant potato was an actual named thing. My inner monologue automatically called them mutant potatoes, but never really paid them any mind. And Rot fits the description, he’s speckled, with one pupil that’s three times as large as the other one, has scraggly hair, can’t sing and is a bit socially unkempt. Lucky for him there’s a contest that will decide the cutest in the world about to start and he’s eager to enter.

Also entering the competition is a bunny, kitten and jellyfish, who are all exceedingly cute and talented. Rot sees the cuteness that he’s up against and decides to make him more like them. He puts on blue ears so that he looks like the bunny. Next he tries whiskers so that he looks like the kitten. However, the kitten is quick to put in their cents that it simply makes him look ridiculous and to take them off.

Lastly he puts on a pink tutu and acts peppy and excited, just like the jellyfish. All of this doesn’t make Rot feel any better; he starts to frown a bit and looks down. All of the other three contestants have gone to the staged and presented themselves before the judges. They all look on in disbelief, surprise and ultimately appreciation for his guts to go on stage.

He takes a deep breath, presents his biggest smile and does his stuff in front of the judges in the audience. When bunny, kitten and jellyfish join him on stage the readers finally get a view of the judges themselves, a banana, apple and pear-all of who are rotten or discolored. Not surprisingly the judges loved Rot’s look and by the end of the book even the jellyfish emulates an aspect of Rot’s appearance.

Rot is a great good-night book. It’s short enough to read multiple times to potentially not sleepy children, but can also be spread out so that you only read it once to sleepy kids. Its art is fun, playful will immediately make kids laugh or smile, depending on the mood of their funny bone.  Ages 3 and up will like the book as its read to them, while ages 5 through 6 will be able to read some of the sight words.

What’s great about Rot is that there are some advanced words in there that will still be challenging for older children. They’re not commonly used and readers of all ages will appreciate that the book isn’t afraid to aim high, or use words that aren’t as simple as they’re expecting from a children’s book.