Reviewed by Tiffany Ferrell for Readers' Favorite

In AntonTon by Grigor Vitez, and translated by Irena Stanic Rasin, we are introduced to a very odd individual with the same name as the title. He does things on his farm that many people find strange and just outright weird. AntonTon thinks a lot differently from most people and it’s hard to understand his thought processes. He plants eggs in the soil to hatch instead of letting the hens sit on them and he fixes them by using string if they are cracked or broken. He listens to what his food wants and teaches singing to fish. He has a pig in his house to get rid of mice instead of a cat and he lets his bike graze in the tall grass, to name a few of the odd and outlandish things that he does. AntonTon doesn’t care what people think or the looks he might get. He knows who he is and what he wants to do with his life, so he just lives it being himself.

AntonTon was such a wild and crazy read that I couldn’t help but love it. It has a quirky tone to it so that kids will instantly fall in love with the main character. The way he lives his life to his standards and beliefs might seem silly when reading to your young one, but even with these types of children’s books, there is an underlying message that is very important to drill into kids early on. In this case, the main message is simply to be yourself. We see that AntonTon has an unusual way of how he runs his farm and his life. It might not be typical, but it makes him happy and that’s all that matters. He doesn’t conform to regular standards and is not concerned if people see him as strange and not doing things in a conventional manner. I loved the illustrations. They are vibrant and bright but they are original and fascinating so they are sure to capture young readers' attention. I feel that Grigor Vitez and Irena Stanic Rasin have done a wonderful job with this book and I can’t wait to see what else they will come up with next.