The illustrations are bright and colorful, wonderful for
children's eyes because that's just what they like. In this book, children
will learn the months and days of the week, which are repeated
continuously. For adults that might become a
little monotonous, but for children it might sound a little more
interesting in the right tones. ( )

Another great book! This one teaches about months, days of the week and seasons and it's a lot of fun.

If you have kids or if you're a teacher, you really need to get this book. ( )

A cute story and nice illustrations, but it is certainly not a read-alone. I am not thrilled with some of the writing for either reading aloud or early readers (lack of commas, weird Capitalizations, and "Quotes."). I think it could be reworked to function as both. ( )

Queen Vernita is the benevolent ruler of the Kingdom of Oceaneer. To stave off her loneliness she invites one friend to visit her home for one month each. Beginning in January and moving through December, she and her friends engage in a variety of light-hearted, fun-filled and seasonally appropriate activities as the months, days contained in each month and days of the week are taught to young children.

Author Dawn Menge draws upon her experience with special needs populations and interest in instructional techniques to form the basis for Queen Vernita’s Visitors, a colourful, whimsical introduction into the yearly cycle we are most familiar with in calendar form. By presenting the flow of time in a repetitive, story format, abstract calendar-based concepts are more easily absorbed by young children.

After setting the stage by counting each month and laying the groundwork for the visit of Queen Vernita’s friends, a repetitive and soothingly predictable pattern is begun. Each month is presented in a two-page spread, with a full-colour illustration on the left panel and the simple text on the right. The following quote demonstrates the form in which each month’s information is conveyed along with repeating the days of the week:

“In January she invited Debbie. Debbie stayed from January 1st to January 31st. Queen Vernita loved her visit with Debbie.
“On Mondays, they played jolly jump rope.
“On Tuesdays, they played juggling jacks.
“On Wednesdays, they played four square.”

If some of the listed activities seem nonsensical, it may be due to the fact that the twelve characters who visit with the Queen throughout the year are based upon Menge’s own circle of family and friends. Doubtless, some of these activities are favourites of her loved ones and inside references to pleasurable times spent together.

The art is whimsical and seasonally appropriate. In keeping with the fantastical world of castles perched on cliffs and royalty, the costumes are generally reminiscent of earlier times, with long flowing gowns, full length cloaks and men in tights. Modern swimsuits are depicted in one illustration. The backgroud colour on the text pages coordinates with a main colour in the illustration, contributing to a whimsical, lively appearance throughout.

What charm the title has is detracted from by the rather sloppy illustrations of Bobbi Switzer. No matter how colourful, I have yet to be won over to the thick black outlines and simplistic, two-dimensional internal shading that are reminiscent of the spray paint feature on the classic “Paint” program. When paired with inconsistent drawings of the main character (at times appearing young, at others old, black eyes in all but two illustrations in which they are blue), and proportion issues (hands and head size vary wildly and are at times far too large), aesthetically discerning readers will be disappointed and possibly annoyed. To be fair, there are select illustrations where these concerns are not present; if only every one had been as carefully executed.

My three-year-old wandered off part way through the reading, but my six-year-old stayed until the end. She’s currently working on learning her calendar facts, and as such Queen Vernita meets her needs. Young students may benefit from exposure to this work as a supplementary aid to learning calendar facts. However, I’m hesitant to recommend it in any but the direst situations due to lack of professional quality illustrations.

Reviewed at quiverfullfamily.com ( )

It’s a tricky business to create entertaining children’s fiction that educates without being overbearing or condescending. The best books achieve this goal by immersion, the method used in Queen Vernita’s Visitors. As the story begins, Queen Vernita realizes that it’s been an entire year since she’s seen her friends from the Land of Quails, and decides to invite one friend to visit her in each month of the coming year. Each succeeding page describes a visit from one of her friends and the fun activities they enjoyed together. Along the way, it also teaches the names of the months, the number of days in each month, the different seasons, and the days of the week. The days of the week are repeated on each page of the story, and this is the perfect book for a child who is just learning them and who can also be encouraged to recite them along with a parent. The artwork is bright and simple and sure to appeal to young eyes, a good accompaniment to a book both fun and educational.

Reviewed by Book Dads ( )