Oh The Effen Places You'll Effen Go by Your Uncle Josh is a beautifully crafted and masterfully illustrated book of poetry, so slim one can finish it in less than 45 minutes, but it contains very interesting tips and insights on life. The author takes the reader through life, indicating the beautiful moments that can help shape one’s life. This book will speak to both children and adults in deep and meaningful ways, reminding them of what is most essential in the journey of life, a journey in which a lot of unexpected things happen — going to places we never expected to be, meeting people, some friendly and others not, saying things while meaning something else. It is written in a light, jovial tone and there are many eye-catching and interesting moments, images to pause and ponder on. Here is a verse that I may carry with me for long:

“The reasons
Not there to teach
The answers
Won’t come as you beseech.”

Oh the Effen Places You'll Effen Go by Your Uncle Josh is a brilliant book that speaks directly to the soul of the reader. The writing is poetic and laced with beautiful imagery. The illustrations are so well done that they capture the essence of the book, each representing a fragment, an instance, a step in the journey through life. The verses are construed to offer readers an awareness of what to expect of life and to learn to formulate their personal answers to the situations they encounter. There is no wonder that Uncle Josh has had a fair share of the joys and pains of life and that he shares lessons from his own experience generously and in a very insightful and poetic way.

Okay, I took the bait … I was curious to see if Oh The Effen Places You’ll Effen Go was similar to Dr. Seuss’ book, Oh, The Places You’ll Go! This book has some very dark images showing how hard life really is after finishing school. Oh The Effen Places You’ll Effen Go has very deep, heartfelt, imaginative words of encouragement for the next generation. Your Uncle Josh has written an inspiring poem for his nephews and nieces: “What matters is what you’ve done, and from where you do. If you keep it true, you’ll be cool.” The images of people falling but then getting back up is inspirational. I think post-secondary students and young adults will be motivated by the story. His message is intriguing: “Graffiti’d on each wall you find, etched into the cliffs you climb,” warning you that life after school won’t be easy and you will have struggles, walls, and cliffs to climb, but it will be worth it. When you reflect on what you’ve been through, it’s only tragic if you want it to be. Your Uncle Josh offers quite a few profound statements like, “How you see the things you do, and how you create them to be for you, are the only way they’d ever effen BE.”

The illustration on Page 22 demonstrates the skill of the illustrator: there is a highly-detailed rendering on the same page as a quick, very loose sketch. Some pictures are quite crude, but contain a lot of detail. I like the technique of having a shadow fading behind the character as if running through life, but also adding depth—or layers of oneself. The scribbling technique in the background is genius … I can see students of illustration learning a tip or two from viewing this book. Your Uncle Josh is obviously an imaginative illustrator combining photographs and illustrated images to create original imagery. Did you spot the word “kind” hidden in the artwork? And I do highly recommend Oh The Effen Places You’ll Effen Go for graduates of college or university—and illustration and fine art students!

Oh the Effen Places You'll Effen Go by Your Uncle Josh is a stunning poetry book. The book talks about many important things in life in a well written, rhyming way. The book mentions that in life you'll learn things you didn't want to know. It talks about the people you'll meet, and how people can be. The book reminds you that your friends are just blends of you. It talks about how love is an action you might choose. It talks about how you will say things that you may come to regret, or something you've said may be taken the wrong way. It mentions the importance of kindness, and ultimately, the book helps to guide you through life, and teaches you to be you.

I really enjoyed reading Oh the Effen Places You'll Effen Go by Your Uncle Josh. The book is very well written and the rhyming in the book is well done. The book would be very helpful to people who are beginning a journey through life and change. The book is very relatable, and sometimes a line would make you think "Hey, that happened to me." The pictures are very cool, and match the style of the poems. The pictures also make the reader think. The book is full of profound quotes about life, and a person's inner journey. Many people will find this book helpful. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone, especially people who are just setting off on the path of life.

Oh the Effen Places You'll Effen Go by Your Uncle Josh is a wondrous illustration of poetry for young readers, but it contains a lot of entertainment for adult readers as well, because the lines in this book and the artwork will remind most of them of their own inner journey, of the worlds they have inhabited, the seasons they have known, and the stories they have created, shared, and listened to. The book is designed to be an interesting dialogue between Uncle Josh and some young man and the title itself is telling of what to expect. The opening lines are stunning, evocative, and inviting:

“OH the Effen places
You’ll Effen GO!!!
The things you’ll know,
That you didn’t want to know ….”

The poet moves on to explain the journey of life, reminding the young reader of the key moments of life’s beautiful adventure. But all will not be as expected, for there will be people the reader will meet, some friendly, others only there for the competition. But then there is beauty in friendship because friends are other versions of us. There are things we will say and at times we won’t mean what we say, but our words will live on, in ways and places we can’t just fathom. This is a very interesting book with eye-catching and symbolic illustrations. I read the book with my five-year-old son and had to answer tons of questions. It was fun to hear his interpretations of some of the illustrations. Oh the Effen Places You'll Effen Go is a delightful book that will add color to the world of young readers.