Goth Girl and the Sinister Symphony by Chris Riddell

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Chris Riddell, funny books, Goth Girl, Goth Girl and the sinister symphony

I was pretty gutted when I found out on Twitter yesterday that Goth Girl and the Sinister Symphony is to be the last in the brilliant Goth Girl series by Chris Riddell. I have, as regular readers may know, a deep and abiding love for Chris Riddell’s work, whether it be his illustrations for other people, or his own work. I truly lost my heart to him when I discovered the Ottoline series, and my only consolation about the end of the Goth Girl series is that Ottoline is coming back.

The Goth Girl series is a thing of beauty and wonder in so many ways. The books are exquisitely produced,  fat little hand friendly volumes with ribbon book marks, gloriously decadent end pages, treat mini books in every volume, and exquisite, full colour pictures on every page.

Then there’s the writing. In these books Riddell surpasses himself as an author who can appeal to every type of reader. The stories are whimsical, funny and adventurous enough to satisfy the most demanding child reader, while working at a completely other level for adults with their wonderful breadth of allusions to history and popular culture. They are just perfect.

In this book, Lord Goth, ‘mad, bad and dangerous to gnomes’, has decided to host a musical festival ‘Gothstock’, at Goth hall. As ever, Ada Goth, his daughter and her Attic Gang, are sure that Maltravers, the evil butler is up to something, and it’s their job to find out what it is and ensure that Gothstock goes off without a hitch. Added to this is a visit by Ada’s grandmother, who is scheming to marry Lord Goth off to one of the three society beauties she has brought with her. Ada disapproves of all of them, and has other plans for Lord Goth.

My favourite bits of this book are the wickedly funny caricatures of Simon Cowell as Simon Scowl, who brings his ancient orchestra to perform at Gothstock, and the beautiful depiction of Donald Trump as Donald Ear-Trumpet with his tiny hands and big cannon. I loved these so much I think they’re worth the price of the book on their own.

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The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett

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Discworld, funny books, Terry Pratchett, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents

The Amazing Maurice is the twenty eighth book in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series and the first one that he deliberately wrote as a children’s book. It won him his most distinguished literary prize, The Carnegie Medal, largely because I like to think that children’s librarians are much smarter than literary critics and have always known genius when they’ve seen it.

The Amazing Maurice is a cat who, like the educated rodents he hangs around with, spent too long eating things that the wizards at Unseen University threw away, and suddenly discovered he could think, and talk. Maurice and the rats have teamed up with a ‘stupid looking kid’, who can play the penny whistle, and are travelling the Disc, simultaneously infesting and ridding the town of a plague of rats, and a hefty sum of money for doing so.

As they arrive in Bad Blintz, the rats tell Maurice that this is their last con. They want to find the nirvana promised in the book Mr Bunnsy Has an Adventure, which has become their bible. Maurice grudgingly agrees, but before things can swing into action they find that sinister forces are afoot in Bad Blintz. Can they save themselves and the townspeople of Bad Blintz?

On first reading I found this a strange choice for a children’s book. The Amazing Maurice may have more than echoes of the Pied Piper fable. It may also be influenced by Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, but it is a very dark tale. It’s about the human in animals, and the animal in humans. It has moments of savagery and genuine fear and tension that many of the previous Discworld novels lack. Just as I assume that children’s librarians are smarter, I found this was the point where I realised that Pratchett knew children were smarter than your average adult, too. There is no pandering to young minds here. There is direct, straight talking, fierceness and no compromise whatsoever and it makes the book worthy of the Carnegie and every other prize you might care to mention.

It’s funny, of course. There’s a lot of mention of widdling in jam, but it’s also funny in an extremely macabre, sharp way that cuts to the bone of what Pratchett is doing, showing humans to humans and talking about what it is to be humane.

On re-reading it with Oscar, I only have more praise for it. It’s one of those books I think should be compulsory reading in schools. Sod Lord of the Flies or Animal Farm. This is the one.

Mr. Penguin And The Lost Treasure by Alex T. Smith

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Alex T Smith, chapter books, funny books, Mr Penguin and the lost treasure

Mr. Penguin And The Lost Treasure by Alex T. Smith was sent to me Amazon Vine in exchange for my review.

Readers of the blog will know that I am a huge fan of Alex T. Smith and his Claude series, about Claude the stylish dog and his best friend Sir Bobblysocks. I was delighted when I was offered the chance to read this brand new adventure, which looks to be the start of a new series.

Mr. Penguin has come to Cityville to make a new start, after a fairly disastrous attempt to be a more traditional penguin. He dreams of adventure, fuelled by his love for the stories he reads, and decides to set up his very own detective agency, aided and abetted by his best friend, Colin the spider.

Things are looking bleak for Mr. Penguin when the story begins. He is down to his last fishmonger sandwich, and despite having put an ad in the local paper, business is non existent. That is, until he is contacted by the owner of the local museum asking him to search for hidden treasure that could save the museum from being closed down.

Mr. Penguin and Colin are on the case, and what ensues is a wonderful take on an Indiana Jones style adventure, but with a lot more penguin action. Colin is my favourite character. His terse nature and his ability to kung fu chop his way through most problems are absolute genius. I am also quite a fan of Gordon, the somewhat taciturn pigeon.

The story is fast paced and very funny. It has all the charm and humour that makes the Claude stories such a delight to read. The illustrations by Alex T. Smith are gorgeous, including the beautiful end plates and the production quality overall is high, making this a truly beautiful thing to own.

Longer than the Claude books, this is a more developed chapter book for the more confident solo reader, or a story you can share over several nights of story time. Perfect for children aged four and up, and me.

 

Birthday Boy by David Baddiel

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Birthday Boy, David Baddiel, funny books

I was sent an advance copy of Birthday Boy by Netgalley in exchange for my review.

Until this point I’d only ever read David Baddiel’s novels for adults, which I enjoyed very much. I have to be honest and say that I had a little trouble imagining how he would transition across to children’s writing though, but as my ten year old son rates him highly, I thought I’d give this a whirl.

Having read Birthday Boy I can now see why my son loves his books. Deftly written, the plotting moves at speed so that there is no chance of the reader becoming bored or distracted, the narrative simply doesn’t allow you to stop.

Sam Green wakes up on his birthday, after months of fevered excitement and planning. The day is as wonderful as he anticipated, and that night, looking through his new telescope and spying a shooting star, he wishes that every day could be his birthday.

Over the course of the book, Sam finds out the truth of the adage, ‘be careful what you wish for,’ as birthday after birthday dulls his appetites and starts taking a ruinous toll on his family. He has to figure out a way to stop the magic working and get his ordinary life back.

The moral of the tale is handled with humour and a lightness of touch that mean the narrative never gets bogged down in wordiness or sentimentality, which I like. There are some great supporting characters. I particularly love Sam’s long suffering guinea pig whose facial expressions are a running joke throughout the book. There’s a good mix of characters and great, strong roles for girls. I also loved the grandparents, who seem to be an homage to Charlie’s grandparents in Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. It’s particularly lovely that there is more than a nod to Baddiel’s own father, Colin.

The book is generous, kind and funny, taking inspiration from some classic tropes of children’s fiction and making them fresh for a new generation of readers. Perfect for children aged 7 and up.

Nellie Choc-Ice Penguin Explorer – Jeremy Strong

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Barrington Stoke, dyslexia friendly books, funny books, humour, Jeremy Strong, Little Gems, Nellie Choc-Ice Penguin Explorer

Independent publisher, Barrington Stoke, sent me Nellie Choc-Ice, Penguin Explorer by Jeremy Strong to review.

Another fantastic addition to their stellar, little Gems collection, I loved this. Strong brings the same wit and humour to this warmly funny story of Nellie Choc-Ice that makes stories like The Hundred Mile an Hour Dog and my favourite, Mad Iris, so popular.

The story of Nellie is wonderfully brought to life by illustrator Jamie Smith, who captures Nellie’s slightly ditzy nature perfectly. I particularly loved the snowball style bobble on her hat. Strong is great on humour, but I also enjoyed the fact that in this book, he gives little factual snippets about penguins and their habitats, in an engaging way that doesn’t feel like information is being force fed the reader.

The quality of production is as high as ever, with wonderful, nautical end papers, puzzles and quizzes on the inside covers, and the usual, dyslexia friendly font and simple chapter format.

A great book for newly independent readers and to share with children aged 5-8.

Chocolate Cake by Michael Rosen

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books to share, funny books, humour, Kevin Waldron, Michael Rosen, Net galley, Penguin, picture books, poetry

This week I was approved by NetGalley to get a sneaky peek at the new, picture book version of Michael Rosen’s classic poem, Chocolate Cake, replete with illustrations by Kevin Waldron.

The book will be published on 24th August, 2017.

I love Michael Rosen’s work. I don’t really know anyone who doesn’t, to be honest. As a child I enjoyed reading his work myself. As an adult, teaching children about the sheer joy of reading, I used to look forward to sharing his books, particularly his poems.  Chocolate Cake and No Breathing In Class are two of my all time favourites to read and share. You can see them being performed on Michael’s YouTube channel, which is, in my mind the best way of sharing poems.

For sharing at bed time, or in class, or as part of a school library this new version is an absolute must. The illustrations by Kevin Waldron have a child-like glee to them that really help bring the poem off the page, in much the same way that performance does. The humour, the suspense, the excitement are all captured in the bright, bold pictures and really draw the reader in to the narrative.

I recommend this for all ages. It is deserving of the title classic, without making it seem dreary or only for an elite few. It is a classic because its themes are universal and it evokes all the emotions in the reader that the poem’s protagonist goes through himself. It is just lovely.

Max and Bird by Ed Vere

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books about friendship, books to share, early years books, Ed Vere, funny books, Max and Bird, picture books

I recently joined Net Galley and one of my first picks was an Ed Vere picture book featuring Max the cat (who has also starred in Max the Brave and Max at Night), called Max and Bird.

Max is a dishevelled cat, more of a kitten really, who means well, but is slightly clueless. I think I warm to Max because I have a cat called Derek, who is much the same, and really struggles with the basic principles of how to be a great cat. She is an excellent Derek, but her cat skills leave much to be desired.

One day Max sees a bird and decides that he probably wants to eat it. Bird, unsurprisingly, is not keen, and suggests they try friendship instead. In order to give Max time to think about this, Bird rather magnanimously in the circumstances, suggests that Max helps Bird learn how to fly, and if at the end of the process he still wants to eat Bird, they’ll talk it through.

There is a joyous section where Max and Bird try to figure out flying, and quite rightly, spend a great deal of time in their local library, reading books from the low shelves because they’re too short to reach the top shelves.

The book is in Vere’s trademark frenetic style of illustration with some really wonderful facial expressions that make the book very funny indeed. He uses his usual bright pops of colour as background to the otherwise minimal content. I really like this technique for making both Max and Bird seem tiny (like the reader) but also the whole focus of the attention because of their shape against the big blocks of colour.

This is funny and has a charming lesson about what makes a friendship work, that is so touching because it isn’t too saccharine, which works perfectly for me as a reader.

The book will be available to buy on September 5, 2017, and if you like Ed Vere you will find it a fantastic addition to his previous work. A great bed time sharing book and a good addition to any Early Years reading corner. Ideal for readers aged 3-6.

Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett

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Discworld, fantasy fiction, funny books, Terry Pratchett, Thief of Time

Thief of Time is the twenty sixth novel in the Discworld Series by Terry Pratchett, and one of my absolute favourites to read. I was so looking forward to sharing this with Oscar, and the experience did not disappoint. This is one of the series that really has stood the test of both time and quality for me.

The book features Lu Tse, who pops up in earlier novels, (Small Gods for example) who is one of the Monks of History. The Monks of History are a pastiche of all the martial arts/zen buddhist/karate stuff you’ve ever seen or read about. The abbot regenerates into a baby every time he is reborn, but retains all his wisdom along with needing his nappy changing and shouting ‘wanna bikkit’. The monastery has mandalas and mystically tended gardens, and time wheels powered by yak’s butter and Lu Tse shuffles amongst it all, the mysterious sweeper with a penchant for smoking dog ends and quoting his Ankh Morpork land lady’s gnomic wisdom.

Lu Tse has to take his assistant Lob Sang to Ankh Morpork to stop the auditors stopping time altogether because time and people do not mix without making a mess. There are cosmic clocks, more horsemen of the apocalypse than you would normally expect, passing references to Reservoir Dogs and in amongst it, creating order out of chaos, Death’s grand-daughter, Susan.

Full of jokes and wisdom and humanity, it’s hard to see how Pratchett pieces all this together to create a unified narrative, but he does, and it is glorious. It can be read on so many levels, and probably enjoyed on even more.

 

Knighthood for Beginners by Elys Dolan

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adventure books, books about dragons, books about knights, chapter books, Elys Dolan, funny books, Knighthood for Beginners, transitional books

Knighthood for Beginners by Elys Dolan was sent to me by the Amazon Vine review programme in exchange for my honest review.

I have reviewed several picture books by Elys Dolan here at Making Them Readers. My particular favourite being Steven Seagull, although I have thoroughly enjoyed everything she has written so far. Knighthood for Beginners is her first chapter or transitional book for slightly older readers. I was interested to see if she could carry the wit and style of her picture books over into a longer format.

She can.

Dave is a terrible dragon. He’s let down everyone in his family after failing the test to be a dragon, and indeed everyone in his community. Kicked out to wander the world alone, he finds a book about knights, and is bowled over. Realising that being a knight is his destiny, he sets off to find a trusty steed, who just happens to be a German goat called Albrecht.

Dave and Albrecht travel far and wide, but mostly to the nearest town to become chivalrous knights of old and in doing so, turn tradition on its head in the most delightful way.

This is a brilliantly crazy adventure, beautifully illustrated by Dolan with her usual charm and humour. I particularly like the rats on sticks in almost every picture. My favourite character is Albrecht, who is a devil may care adventurer with some classic lines, many of which are in German (glossary is provided). I also loved the Bearded Lady who, like Dave, manages to transcend her destiny and better herself.

There is a real sense of anarchy in this clever and funny book. It would work perfectly for newly independent readers and is a cracking read for both boys and girls.

And me.

Danny McGee Drinks The Sea by Andy Stanton and Neal Layton

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Andy Stanton, Danny McGee Drinks The Sea, early years books, funny books, Neal Layton, picture books, rhyming books

Danny McGee Drinks The Sea by Andy Stanton, with illustrations by Neal Layton was sent to me by the Amazon Vine review programme in exchange for my honest review.

Long term readers know that I LOVE Andy Stanton, and my only disappointment with this is that it isn’t more Mr. Gum. Frankly, the world needs more Mr. Gum. However, this is pretty good too, and perfect for Early Years readers who are not quite ready for the madness that is Mr. Gum.

Neal Layton is a brilliant illustrator and picture book author in his own right, and really these two people together are a winning combination. Layton’s illustrations are alive with colour and energy and perfectly capture the madcap fun of the story by Stanton.

Danny McGee takes on the challenge laid down by his sister Frannie, to drink the sea, but he just can’t seem to stop there. Hooked on the power of sucking the whole sea into his belly, much like the Old Woman who Swallowed A Fly, he goes nuts for eating everything and anything in his path. Although there is a wonderful twist in the tale that I won’t spoil for you here.

It’s a rhyming story, which, as regular readers will also know, is not my favourite thing in the world, but it works beautifully in this context and small children do seem to lap up the rhymes. It’s not too twee and at times there’s a slight Dr. Seuss element that lifts it out of the usual, syrupy rhyming fare.

It’s funny, exuberant and silly. Destined to be a picture book classic.