You're Missing It!

by Brady Smith, Tiffani Thiessen

A busy Hollywood couple spins a hilarious cautionary tale about what happens when you are glued to your phone.

It's a lively day at the neighborhood park. Birds are singing, squirrels are frolicking, dogs are causing a commotion--and wide-eyed children are enthralled by it all. Too bad the parents are missing everything! It's going to take something really BIG to get them to disengage from their phones . . .

This timely story, brought to life with beautiful bold art, is a great reminder to slow down and savor time together.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Family, Technology, Storytime, Realistic Fiction, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2019

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dad takes his son to the park but is missing all the sights because he is looking at his phone – great book for ‘older’ children who need to take the time to look around! Really reminded me of the song Cat's In The Cradle by Harry Chapin - you have to take the time to give your children your time - a very important lesson!

[Shaye Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

WARNING: Before reading this book, make sure you’re ready to walk-the-talk. Because as cute and hilarious as the artwork is, the message is hard-hitting. One of my very favorite movie scenes is from Hook, starring Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman. There’s a point at which Peter’s wife, Moira, takes his cell phone and flings it out the window in frustration. She gives one of the most heart-wrenching speeches that ends with “...and you are missing it.”

CHECK OUT THE VIDEO CLIP HERE

So as I blink the wetness from my eyes, this book is the story of a little boy who goes to the park with his father. Everything is so bright, cheery, and colorful as the boy sees EVERYTHING happening all around him — there are birds, squirrels, dogs, flowers, butterflies, other kids, and even other distracted parents. While the boy marvels at the world all around him, including an escaped purple rhinoceros, his dad is MISSING. IT. ALL. …because he can’t look away from his phone. It becomes almost obnoxiously silly to see all that he’s missing. Thankfully, the dad eventually realizes what’s going on before it’s too late. Nevertheless, on the final page we’re left with yet another child running along, trying to get her mom’s attention (since she’s on her phone). The illustrations were done with a #2 pencil, an eraser, a Faber-Castell artist pen, and watercolors.

For more children's literature, middle grade literature, and YA literature reviews, feel free to visit my personal blog at The Miller Memo!

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is sad we need a picture book to remind parents to stop looking at their phones :\

[amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an adorable book about how parents need to get off of their phones and pay attention to the world around them, especially their kids!

[Nicole Darrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good message for parents. Storyline overall okay. Loved the colorful illustrations. Could be good for story time.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated. Nice message.

[Villain E · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've accused a few books of being more for parents than for kids; books with self-affirming plattitudes, books with kids being adorable. My point in saying that was that the story was going to resonate with parents rather than with kids. But this book is blatently a moral for parents. As you can guess from the cover, the moral is: GET OFF YOUR PHONE!!! There could be a charging rhino and you wouldn't even notice!

(Yes, I am posting this review from my phone while my kids are eating breakfast ...)

[Teresa Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kids are not the only ones that need to take a tech break. A son takes his dad to the park where lots of amazing events occur, but... the dad keeps missing it because his eyes are glued to his phone. Finally, after many attempts, the son gets his dad to participate in their outing. A really good message with a fun delivery.

[liliana •_• · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great message! Loved the illustrations.

[Yaritza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Will his dad finally see the beautiful moments around him? The illustrations are just too cute. The squirrels had me laughing through out the book. The colors were so bold and vivid I wish I was inside the book. I think it needed a little more text and interaction. This is a great book for parents to see that time spent with your child is precious and you should be having adventures outside with your children instead of being on your phone. Enjoy the outdoors!

[Jaymee Epperson · Rating 5 out of 5]

caillou with hair?

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

My four year olds loved it. Loved the drawings and they wanted to hear it over and over. That alone is worth the stars to me!

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love love love the colorful images and message behind the story. Kinda preachy, but with something this important you need that sometimes.
I'm a parent to a feisty 2-yr-old, and I am not ashamed to say that if she is preoccupied playing or watching Pooh Bear, I'm gonna be entertaining myself too! However, it baffles me that parents don't pay attention to their kids at the park, it kind of made me hate the dad in this story. I feel like maybe changing the setting to a living room or something would have been more relate-able for some, but the point of a charging rhino works better in a park I suppose lol

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little boy goes to the park with his dad. But while the boy sees marvels amazing, tender, and down right crazy, his dad is missing everything because he has his eyes glue to his phone.

This is a great read for families today. Whether the phone addict is a child or an adult, they should get the message that there are amazing things to see, and more importantly, to share with those you love if you'll just put the technology down. This does it in a funny way with a story that starts off quite plausible and ends a bit wildly (much to the delight of readers). Highly recommended.

[Gina Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, I believe, is really intended for the caregiver. It has a great message to all of us who are so attached to our cell phones that we miss some incredible things going on around us. Sometimes it takes a child, and a rhinoceros, to pull us adults out of the cyberspace blackhole that is our phone. The narrative for this picture book is ok, but the illustrations are vibrant, fun, and busy enough that you can tell another story/stories just from the illustrations alone. You could even play an I-Spy game with your child. As you read, you could ask your child, "What is Dad missing now?"

[Jolynne Dougherty · Rating 2 out of 5]

The illustrations are lovely, and engaging. I am in the middle of weeding picture books and this hasn't gone out in several years. Thinking about it, it feels like it is written for an adult, as opposed to being written for a child. With that in mind, it is a little preachy. First and foremost, if you are taking the time to read this book to your child, you're probably not on your screen. As an adult, this is not going to catch my attention.

Setting this to having been read today, but I read it for a virtual family storytime a couple of years ago.

[Jj · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good message here, but this one unfortunately does miss the mark. The illustrations are nice, colorful, bold--they would work well for sharing with a group. The story line and text, however, are not especially compelling and lead to a predictable ending. This might work with a preschool group in a storytime--or perhaps more pointedly, with a storytime group including the kind of grown-ups at whom the message is really aimed.

Thanks to Penguin Young Readers for the review copy.

[Ruth Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely delightful text and illustrations tell the story of a boy's trip to the park with his dad, who is always on his phone.
Technoference is a word Merriam-Webster is watching.
"Technoference refers to the interruptions in interpersonal communication caused by attention paid to personal technological devices."
I absolutely hate this when I see parents on their mobile devices ignoring/passing up those precious opportunities to interact with their children.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the idea of the book. The illustrations are full of colorful but too my on the page to look at. Great example of onomatopoeia. The text was disappointing. It followed a realistic theme and then a rhino out of nowhere. I get the point of the rhino finally being what draws the father’s attention away from his phone, but the sense of realism was lost and thus changed the plot for me. Great idea, but just missed the marked.

[Tranylle · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great reminder to us parents to fully pay attention to our kids, spend some real quality time with them, and ditch the phones so our kids know they have our full attention. My kids (7 and 5) absolutely loved the story, and I've even caught them reading it with their friends and yelling "you're missing it!"

[Patricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit preachy, but message well taken, about a little boy out for a walk in the park with his dad who does not look up from his cell phone even after a butterfly, a rhino, a flower, a hatching egg, all appear in front of the kid. He keeps shouting : "You're missing it!" and finally the dad gets it, but way after we got it for a very long time.

[Patsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I checked out this book as a way of helping teens understand the importance of being engaged in real life, and not their phones. It is more geared to parents' use of their phones, but the principle applies to all of us when we are more interested in what is happening on the small screen than what is happening in real life.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A boy and his dad go to the park. The boy tries to get his dad to see all the wonderful things happening, but his dad just keeps staring at his phone. Something drastic needs to happen to get his attention.

A good reminder to set the phone down and spend some quality time with people in your life. Probably this book is more for parents than kids!

[Freddie D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great illustrations and a wonderful reminder to put our phones down and BE in the moment. I wonder how many times I've missed a rhino sneezing in the park because I was checking my Instagram account and not paying attention? Probably too many to count! A great early introduction to appropriate behaviour around technology and it's ramifications.

[Lydia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little boy and his dad go to the park, where simple everyday things and some incredible things happen, but his dad is on the phone and keeps missing it! Will he get to join in with the new friends and fun?

A good reminder about how much of our lives we let technology take and what we can miss, but told in a humorous way, not a preachy one.

No content issues.

[Barbra · Rating 3 out of 5]

The obvious message in this book is for parents to engage more with their children than their phones. Children will respond to the colourful illustrations and I think it is a book that will be best enjoyed in a reading group. It will open up talk about communication between adults and kids.

[Hanna Yost · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was most bothered by the kids touching a baby bird and messing around with its nest. At least they're engaged with their surroundings and nature, as opposed to being engrossed in technology but this one just didn't work for me.

[Sarah C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colourful, exciting art that grabs the attention really makes this book a fun read. The story is simple with few words, but the message is a good one about being present with the ones you love and experiencing things together.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parents put your phones down and pay attention to your kids. Enjoy the time you have with your kids while you have it. In this book, dad was on his phone while taking his son to the park. Dad missed out on all the great adventures because he was looking at his phone.

[Alyson · Rating 4 out of 5]

"You're Missing It!" certainly captures the oftentimes random curiosity of a kid, and the artwork is so vibrant it pops! However, the storyline is a bit difficult to follow, and I am not sure who the authors consider their target audience to be - kids or adults.