This Book Is Perfect! by Ron Keres

Hey, Story Seekers!

Finn the Frog has a perfect book.

Clean pages.

No stains.

No sticky stuff.

No mess.

Perfect.

So naturally, we're about to ruin the poor guy's day.

This Book Is Perfect!, written by Ron Keres with artwork by Arthur Lin, is an interactive picture book about Finn, a frog who likes things exactly the way he likes them.

Clean.

Neat.

Under control.

Then somebody shows up with cheesy fingers.

Uh-oh.

Readit has already decided Finn made one enormous mistake.

Never hand a perfect book to a kid holding snacks.

Book Breakdown

Finn isn't merely tidy.

This frog is committed.

He lives inside the very book we're holding, and he is extremely proud of how spotless everything is.

Then the reader starts making a mess.

First come orange cheesy-puff fingerprints.

Finn notices.

Oh, he notices.

Then grape juice gets involved.

Sticky grape juice.

On his book.

Finn's emotional temperature begins climbing.

Then comes gum.

At this point we're not reading about Finn's problem from a safe distance. The book keeps pulling the reader into it. Finn talks directly to us. He reacts to what appears to be happening on the pages. He even tells us when to turn them.

That's the trick Keres is playing.

The book itself is Finn's home, and the person holding it is part of the story.

So every new mess feels personal.

Especially to Finn.

Then a fly gets into his immaculate little world.

Now we have an interesting problem.

Finn wants the mess gone, but he's a frog.

Frogs and flies have a certain arrangement.

Without spoiling the last of it, Finn has to reconsider his definition of disaster. The thing ruining his perfect world might not be entirely useless after all.

That's how the story gets its point across without stopping to deliver a speech.

Arthur Lin has a big job here, because the mess has to feel like it's happening to the actual object in your hands.

Orange fingerprints appear on the pages. Sticky drips invade Finn's space. A child's hand shows up as though it belongs to whoever is reading. Meanwhile Finn's expressions get steadily more frantic as his standards and his reality drift apart.

The cleaner Finn wants the book...

the funnier the mess becomes.

For teachers and librarians: Flypaper Press, 2022. Thirty-six pages, ages 3 to 7, first in the Finn the Frog Collection. I could not find a verified Lexile, ATOS, Guided Reading level, word count or AR record for this one from a source I trust, so I'm leaving those blank rather than guessing. That's common with independently published books and it isn't a mark against the book.

Jungle Jimmy's Journal

This is my kind of interactive book.

Not because it has buttons.

It doesn't need buttons.

The book itself is the trick.

Finn knows you're there. He knows you're holding his home. And he is increasingly suspicious that you are not qualified for the responsibility.

That's fun to perform.

After thirty years of doing shows for kids, here's what I've learned about pulling a room in. Don't just show them the problem.

Make it their problem.

That's what Keres does. The cheesy fingerprints aren't happening in some distant fictional kitchen. They're on this book. Finn is looking at you.

Now the kid holding the book has a relationship with the character.

And once Finn starts getting worked up, you've got somewhere to go with the voice.

I'd start controlled. Finn likes things neat. Fine.

Then let each mess tighten the screws.

Cheesy fingerprints.

Grape juice.

Gum.

Fly.

By the time Finn is truly losing it, the room has watched him travel all the way there.

That's comedy.

It's also why the perfectionism holds up better here than in a book that simply tells a child, "It's okay if things aren't perfect."

Finn doesn't need a poster with an inspirational saying on it.

He needs somebody to put grape juice on his page.

He has to find out he can survive the mess. And then, better, that something he'd written off as unacceptable turns out to have a use.

That lands because the story makes him earn it.

My only caution would be not to turn Finn into a diagnosis.

He's a frog who really, really likes things clean.

That's enough. Some children will see themselves. Some will see somebody they know. Others will simply enjoy watching a frog come apart over cheese dust.

All valid.

Readit's Review

Finn would not like me.

I can tell already.

Also, if you don't want fingerprints on your book, WHY ARE YOU LETTING SOMEBODY EAT CHEESE PUFFS NEAR IT?

That's your first problem.

Then grape juice?

No.

Move the grape juice.

I understand Finn on that one.

Gum on the book is also terrible.

But Finn gets funnier every time something happens, because his face keeps getting more worried.

I like that he's talking to you.

It feels like you're actually bothering him.

Which is funny.

Sorry, Finn.

The fly part is my favorite because now he has a problem.

He hates the mess.

But he's a frog.

Frogs eat flies.

So...

What are you going to do now, PERFECT FROG?

I would read this again because I want to know when Finn starts freaking out so I can do his voice with you.

But I'm not bringing grape juice.

I'm not crazy.

What Others Think

Finn has done pretty well outside his perfectly clean pages. Goodreads shows 4.49 out of 5 from 3,769 ratings, with 193 written reviews. That 4.49 is the highest average of any book we've reviewed so far.

The comparison readers keep reaching for is the right one. Reviewer jyweniverel calls it "a very fun semi-interactive book" and says it recalls "Sesame Street Grover's 'There's a Monster at the End of This Book.'"

That's exactly the tradition, and it's a high bar to be measured against.

Jennifer Decker doesn't bury her verdict: "SOOO FUNNY!!! This author is fantastic at writing children's books! This is the third book of his my three little girls and I have read and we can't wait for his next book!"

Lauren Kerstein names the mechanism: "Adorable and fun! I enjoyed this sweet book that highlighted flexible thinking and broke the fourth wall. Kids will want to keep turning the pages."

And Lauren A. Blanton supplies the thing I always want to see in a review, which is a specific child in a specific chair: "My six year old loved it. He laughed out loud at a few places and it kept his full attention."

One more I enjoyed, from Noreen M. Mc Aloon, who spotted a side benefit: "My grandsons and I had a great time reading this. It also makes the point about 'clean' reading habits without my saying so."

That's a real thing. A book about not wrecking books, delivered by a frog rather than by you.

Not every reader is all the way in. Aditi liked the story but found the title a mismatch for the content and pegged it younger than advertised, "more likely for 3-5 year olds."

Fair enough. The interactive gag does play younger than seven, and a kid at the top of that range may find the setup a touch simple.

Belly Laugh Scale

4 out of 5: Big-Time Belly Laughs

This one knows where its laughs live.

Finn wants control.

The book keeps taking it away.

Again.

Again.

Again.

That's a strong comedy engine. Add the direct conversation with the reader, Lin's increasingly distressed frog, the sticky-looking page disasters, and the room you get to let Finn's voice unravel, and you've got a book built to be read out loud badly on purpose.

I'm stopping at 4 because the story still spends real energy on Finn learning to bend.

Possibly with orange fingerprints on it.

Final Explorer Verdict

I'd recommend This Book Is Perfect! for ages 3 to 7, especially kids who like interactive books, characters who talk straight at them, escalating mess, and stories where the reader gets blamed for things.

It's also a good pick for children who have a hard time when plans change or things don't come out exactly right.

Not because Finn gives them a lecture.

Because Finn gets it.

He wants everything perfect.

Then reality arrives carrying snacks.

Keres gives the reader a real role in the story, and Lin makes the damage look like it's happening to the physical book. That's the combination. The words blame you. The pictures provide the evidence.

And if Finn's need to keep everything perfect hits home with your kid, I wrote one from the other direction. Petey Perfectpants And The Silly Sock Puppet Problem is also about somebody who likes things just-so until chaos gets other ideas. Finn gets attacked by mess. Petey loses control of his own hand.

Different disasters, same uncomfortable discovery.

Perfect is a mighty difficult place to live.

Keep exploring, Story Seekers!

Jungle Jimmy & Readit