According to the Deseret Books website, The Not Even Once Club is an adorable and appealing way to engage children in a story that will help them choose for themselves to keep the commandments and to never break them. Not even once. Children will meet Tyler, an energetic boy who is excited to make new friends in his Primary class. They have invited Tyler to join their special club, but first he has to pass the test and keep the club promise. The test was to order lemonade rather than coffee, tea, or alcohol at an imaginary restaurant and to promise never to break the Word of Wisdom, lie, cheat, steal, do drugs, bully, dress immodestly, or break the law of chastity. Not. Even. Once.
Sounds hardnosed? After all, one of the purposes of mortal life is to learn how to operate in an environment where sin is present and competes for our attention and affection. But just because sin is present doesn't mean we always have to commit it to find out how to overcome it. Sure, the prodigal son in the Bible was welcomed back by his father and given a feast, but was he given another inheritance to replace the one he squandered? Absolutely not. And this is one reason why this book was written -- to motivate kids not to squander their eternal inheritance by falling into sin. On Wheat And Tares, Hawkgrrrl suggests that the book could easily be likened to temple covenants made later in life. While I have not personally read the book, I have read enough opinions about it from both sides of the proverbial aisle to have formed a reasonably informed view of it.
Those who like it and find it helpful praise it effusively. The editor of Someone In Mind says that if you have children, grandchildren, nieces or nephews, or if you teach Primary or Sunday School, this book needs to be in your home. She notes that in the back of the book, there is a guide for parents to help introduce difficult topics in a way that kids can understand. This can help simplify topics like modesty and pornography for a younger age group. She personally thinks that kids are never too young to discuss these topics, but that doing so requires skill, prayer, and direction from the Holy Ghost. Absolutely correct -- she has effectively captured the spirit and intent of this book. She understands that kids need to be taught the absolutes when they are very young and have limited understanding of subtleties; as they get older and acquire more understanding, they can then be introduced to the "greyer shades". Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. There were also some strongly positive reviews on the Deseret Books website; here's a typical review from Kathy, who rated it four out of five stars:
This was a fun book to read to my 7 year old daughter. She was the perfect age to get what this book was trying to teach. The Not Even Once Club is a picture book aimed at and written for LDS primary aged children. The children in the N.E.O. club pledge to never cheat, bully, steal, smoke, take drugs, drink alcohol, etc. As a child I heard a story of an adult who had never smoked, never drank and never done drugs. I set a goal to be able to say the same thing when I was an adult. As a result I can say I have never drank alcohol, never taken illegal drugs and never smoked... not even once. So obviously I agree completely with the message and aim of this book. I had a fun discussion with my daughter after reading this book. The only thing she was disappointed in was not getting to see the kids play all the fun games and eat all the treats that were present in their club house. After reading all the negative reviews about this book I had another discussion with my daughter. My question to her - what if you did do something like lie or cheat or steal? What then? - She looked at me, rolled her eyes and said - "say sorry and repent" and "everyone makes mistakes".
