Children's ✦ Penny’s Take
This Makes Me Sad
Courtney Carbone · 2022
65/100
👎 Skip It
A gentle early reader that handles the loss of a pet with warmth and shows family pulling together — exactly the framing young children need around grief. The format keeps it thin, no professional reviews have validated it independently, and it doesn't quite rise above competent series-entry territory. A solid read-together choice but not a must-have.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
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Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
Faith & family safety83
Substance / usefulness65
Craft & writing68
Originality55
Evidence & accuracy71
Hype vs delivers56
Age-fit77
👁 Human-eye gut-check64
Penny’s verdict65
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