Day 38 (Week 6, Day 3)
First of all, please ignore the horrific formatting of this post. No matter what I do, whenever I move the mouse Blogger seems to drag the text around with it and I just can't get it to stop, so there are random gaps appearing in places or text bunching up round photos, and it's taking too much time to find a solution, so please accept my apologies as I'm fed up now and just leaving it like it is, however that might be!
Oh, it feels good to finally be well enough for some bedtime reading
again with the kids! Nasty, nasty stomach bug now over and done with, so
finally felt like we could resume the Picture Book Challenge tonight. Three
brand new books that we've never read before is a very exciting prospect, with
the hope that we'd discover some new classics to add to our 'must re-read'
pile.
Let's have a look at what tonight
brought us:
I LOVE the penguin on the front cover of this book! I love the
illustrations throughout, in fact. They're just that bit different from the
normal and ever so slightly quirky, in the same way that Oliver Jeffers and Jon
Klassen have such a recognisably different style to anything else out there,
and I'd love to see more of Rob Biddulph's work. The story itself made the kids
laugh as various animals across the tale tried to drag our hero penguin down
from the sky by his kite tail, and I loved the way their adventure was tinged
with just a hint of the fantastical as they made an unlikely journey from the
polar regions to the jungle and back (with an uninvited visitor on the return
journey).
It's got me really excited to read more of Rob Biddulph's stories, so
I'll be ordering in everything that he's done up to this point! It's great to
discover an author who instantly has you eager to read more of their work -
wonderful stuff!
Chris says: Sometimes a book just hits all the sweet spots for you,
and Blown Away has done just that for me. Illustrations that
make me smile just from the front cover, and a plot that's just delightful with
it's slightly liberal distance from Antarctica to jungle. Loved it!
Josh says: I like when the polar bear was picked up by the kite too.
Xander says: Giraffe! Monkey! Elephant!
Well, if you want a book that has an insane number of little ideas
happening on every page then this is the book for you! It's about a boy (Ben)
leaving his dog with his grandad while he goes on holiday and the list of
instructions that he writes, and they are numerous to say the least! They're
also delightfully hilarious all the way through, and the illustrations are
incredibly effective and beautifully drawn. Anyone who owned a pet as a child
will be able to sympathise with Ben in this situation, as I remember it being
incredibly difficult to leave our cats in the care of someone else while we
went on holiday, and if I'd ever thought of leaving written instructions they
might well have become as extensive as these. Nearly all the double page
spreads have a new set of instructions told in a slightly different way each
time, which takes so much imagination and creativity to keep making them that
little bit different, and gives the family reading together a rich and varied
set of things to talk about.
There's so much going on that this is perfect for those who like to stop
and discuss what they're seeing with their children as they read - there's no
way you can run out of things to talk about in this story!
Chris says: I might not be much of a dog lover (I'm a cat person) but
this spoke to me perfectly as someone who hated being away from my pets as a
child. The sheer amount of differing instructions and ways of telling them that
Alex Latimer has created for this story is astonishing, and I love to see books
with so much detail in the illustrations as it means children really study them
to discover every treat.
Josh says: I like when the dog jumped in the bath.
Xander says: Woof woof! Bad dog!
Now, I'm well-known amongst our friends as having exceptional dancing
skills (don't try to deny it, guys...), but I don't think I ever dreamed about
finding a book that tried to teach the kids and I three new types of dance! Oh,
how they loved this book as it encouraged them to get up and try the same
dances that Alfredo tried, however unsuccessfully the titular character may
have initially been! It's a book full of delightfully quirky images (just look
at Alfredo on the front cover - if that's not a groovy looking frog then I
don't know what is!) and a story about not worrying whether you're cool enough
for everyone else, just being happy to do your own thing. This would be perfect
for any storytime session in a library or a school, knowing that you could get
all the kids on their feet and joining in too - you can guarantee that there'd
be a fair number who would pick it as their favourite book after that!
Chris says: We had to do all the dances from this book several times
before bed! What an absolutely fantastic way of engaging children with the
story! Exhausting when you have to keep dancing, yes, but well worth it to see
just how much the kids enjoyed it. Marvellous stuff!
Josh says: I loved being able to dance along; it was so much fun!
Xander says: On your marks, get set, go!
So, to summarise Day 38...
It's been an exceptional day for exciting picture books! We read books
full of imagination, humour, and excitement, discovering work by Rob Biddulph
and Alex Latimer for the first time, and reminding ourselves why Sean Taylor is
always going to entertain us, with Chris Garbutt's quirky and colourful
illustrations showing us exactly how to dance in several groovy fashions.
I'd highly recommend that anyone with a love of fun picture books copies
Day 38 and reads the three of these one evening. We guarantee you'll finish
family reading time with huge grins upon your faces, with exciting dreams soon
to follow!
Books Read: 88/1000 (8.8%)
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