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Slippery Willie’s Stupid, Ugly Shoes by Larry Peterson

Review by: Chris Singer

About the author:

Larry Peterson was born and raised in the Bronx, New York. As a freelancer, he has written many newspaper columns for local publications. “Slippery Willie’s Stupid, Ugly Shoes” is his first children’s book. Peterson has lived in Pinellas Park, Florida for the past 28 years.

About the book:

Willie Wiggles hates his slippery feet. He just slips, slides and spins all over the place. But what he hates even more are the special shoes that have been made for him that will help him to walk just like all the other kids. Willie thinks that they are the “stupidest, ugliest shoes in the whole world.”

Discover how sometimes we worry about things about ourselves when actually there is nothing to worry about in the first place.

Book Trailer:

My take on the book:

Teaching young children that differences are okay is one of the building blocks necessary for children to be able to show empathy for others. The author, Larry Peterson, takes on this issue of accepting differences in an engaging and light-hearted manner. Children ages 4-8 will be able to easily identify with Willie’s feelings of being different and standing out.

While the storyline was definitely geared for children 4-8 years of age, I thought some of the pages had a lot of words. I think this could make it a little difficult for younger children to read.  Yet because the story is engaging and fun, it does seem to make an excellent book to read aloud with younger children. I really liked the illustrations accompanying the story as well. I thought they helped express the emotions elicited in the story very nicely.

I did have one little pet peeve about the story. I really am not a fan of using the word ‘stupid’ in children’s books. I know it sounds prudish but I worked for many years as a teacher’s aide in special education classrooms, and I also owned a business where I provided respite care for families of children with special needs. I simply heard too many children during those years get called that word. I really enjoyed this book and I think the message is excellent, but that word strikes a chord in me which I can’t shake.

That being said, I was thrilled to see the excellent discussion questions provided at the en