Review Policy

Guidelines: I have wanted to create my own blog for years. One important purpose of this blog is to give parents, teachers, and librarians one place where they can find reviews of quality Picture Books, audio CDs of storytelling, and music CDs for toddlers up to age seven.

What I Review: The review portion of this blog is mainly for picture books and other formats focussed on toddlers up to age seven. This may include poetry, audio CDs of storytelling, and music CDs. I am not interested in reviewing games, videos, or any YA material or older. Small press and self-published/produced titles of high quality are welcome.

Kids Reviews: If you are between the age of 8 and 12, and you would like to review your favourite book, I will be pleased to consider publishing your review, even if it is on a YA novel. Please have a teacher or a parent go over your review before submitting it. Also include a picture of the cover of the book you have reviewed.

Who I Accept Requests From: I am open to receiving requests from publicists (either in-house or third party) and authors, preferably through my email (maxtell-at-shaw-dot-ca) though I am fine with requests coming into my Facebook or Linkedin accounts. Please do not send a request to me through Twitter; I will not reply.

Book & CD Formats: I vastly prefer a physical copy of both picture books and CDs. However, in the case of picture books, PDFs and Word docs are fine, as long as the pictures are included in the layout as they appear in the book. For CD queries, you are welcome to email me a link to a three minute clip of a story or three tracks from a collection of stories or songs.

How/When I Review: I do my best to review books/CDs in the month they are released, or anytime after. It is rare that I review a book/CD way ahead of its release date. I also cannot read and review every book I receive. Precedence is given to books/CDs I personally request, as well as any book/CD I agreed to review after reading a pitch. I try to make my reviews as professional as possible. I do not do lengthy literary critiques. While my reviews are mainly on the positive side, that will not always be the case, but I will be respectful in any negative review I post (or when dealing with aspects of your book/CD that I do not like).

Guest Blogs/Interviews: Upon my approval, I am open to guest blogs, if space and my schedule allows; email me if you have a topic you'd like to write about. As for interviews, if I want to interview you, you will receive an invitation.

Disclosure: The vast majority of the books/CDs I read/listen to and review are provided by the publisher or the author.

You can read more about me personally by clicking on About Max Tell under Categories, and see a complete list of reviews by clicking on Reviews also under Categories. Although my given name is Robert, please address me as Max.

If you wish to have your book or CD returned, please include a self addressed envelope along with and INTERNATIONAL POSTAL VOUCHER, equal to or more than the return cost of postage.

I will update my Review Policy as needed, so always be sure to check here before sending a request, in case anything has changed. If there are any questions or you need clarification, please leave a comment or email me.