The Worm Book by Janet & Allan Ahlberg

I was looking at my shelves thinking: what to review today? Then I see the 'A' authors (yes, my picture books are in alphabetical order by author, so what, it's no secret I'm a nerd) and this delightful gem came floating back into my memory. 

The story of how I was introduced to it: My first bookshop job was in the 'Art and Design' section of Kinokuniya in Sydney, when they first opened and I was but 18 and had recently fled the food service industry after only 3 months of hell to find a haven in books. 

When I say I worked in the 'Art and Design' section, I was employed by a company that stocked their Art and Design books, and therefore I was confined to the one information desk, and never even worked on the registers or anything. ANYWHO... my best friend from high school who had recently moved interstate for Uni had come to visit and dropped in on me while I was at work. He said, "Wait here a minute" and promptly disappeared. As if I could have left my station anyway. Shortly later, he returned holding a book and said "you have to buy this." 

I read it. 

I bought it.

It is pure gold!

I wish I could find images from inside the book to show you just how good it is, but alas, you'll have to hunt it down yourself, safe in the knowledge that Janet Ahlberg is one of the great classic children's illustrators and that her and her husband, Allan, were an amazing pair. 

In lieu of pictures, I'll just give you a few choice quotes and you can see what we're dealing with here:

"THE COMMON WORM

All good worms have a beginning, a middle and an end. 

Worms with two beginnings, a middle and no end are apt to injure themselves.

Worms with to ends, a middle and no beginning get bored."

The illustrations that accompany this hilariously straightforward text are equally hilariously straightforward. Reading through looking for more quotes, I've been laughing heartily, but the quotes need to be read with the illustrations to be true genius. 

"There have been worms on the Earth, or rather in it, ever since time began. When dinosaurs trampled noisily and pushed each other around, the worms were keeping well out of the way."

This is the perfect Fiction-Non-Fiction book on worms, with everything you didn't know about worms and simply want to believe now that you have discovered these fantastic facts! 

After all: 

"The worms were here before us. Perhaps, when we are gone, they will be here still - Lords of the Earth."

Consider this blog post as me putting this book in your hands and saying "you have to buy this."

5 Gold Stars

Find it on Goodreads

A Place To Call Home by Alexis Deacon and Vivian Schwarz

Let’s get the first question on everyone’s lips out there from the start: They might be hamsters, or guineapigs, or mice, or gerbils, or something else. It does not matter. They are seven furry brothers and they are small and cute and that’s all that really matters for the story. So let’s read on.

“The trouble is, if you grow up in a small dark hole, even if you start out tiny, there comes a time when you’ve grown too big and the you have to go … out into the world.”

Then our seven furry brothers need a hole to replace the one they have outgrown, for they are scared their “EARS WILL FREEZE!”

Hehehe. Love it.

So, they don some hole-like objects that allow them to feel safe while they journey to find a new home-hole. Only one of them has a hole in his hole, and he alone can see.

So, terrain after terrain they traverse blindly, each with something to say until, horror of horrors, a beast steals away the brother who can see. At first they are too scared to do anything, but then they realised they have journeyed far and across treacherous terrains, so of course they can rescue their brother. Then, their mobile-homes/holes come in handy in subduing the beast in what is a rather funny spread.

Finally, they find a hole in the fence and realise that in it is their new home, for in that hole “is the whole world … and it is home.”

This book never fails to leave me smiling.

It's A Book by Lane Smith

With so much talk about the supposed demise of the book floating around, it’s a pleasure to find a gem such as Lane Smith’s ‘It’s A Book’.

What I love about this book is that it doesn’t set out to portray technology as an evil juggernaut leaving devastated print-book readers maimed and dying in its wake. It is a simple, gentle reminder of the delight that can be found in a bit of technology that has been around for centuries. And it’s Funny!

Tilly and Friends by Polly Dunbar

“Tilly and her friends all live together in a little yellow house…”

I don’t know about you but knowing I’m reading a book by Polly Dunbar, that preface already has me excited!

For those of you that haven’t yet met Tilly and her friends, I thought I’d take the time to introduce you to the brilliance that Polly Dunbar has created.

In ‘Hello Tilly’, Tilly is sitting quietly, reading her favourite story. Then one by one her five friends join her as they play, dance and eat together. I cannot wipe the smile off my face as I read this. It is a simple, joyous celebration of being with friends, where each one brings something different to the mix; the perfect way to meet the residents of the little yellow house.

“Doodle woke up feeling Bitey!” Oh no! As adults we can see where this will most likely end up… and you would be right. Sometimes when playing with friends it’s easy to get carried away and occasionally someone gets bitten. Then there’s usually some retaliation! Luckily Tilly and Pru are around to bandage everyone up and Pru kisses everyone better. It’s good to know that apologising to each other is part of the healing process too. 

I’ve been giggling like a child and I’m only two books down!

Tiptoe (possibly the cutest rabbit you’ve ever seen) isn’t sleepy. Any parent will probably know how it feels when a child just doesn’t want to go to sleep! When Tilly is singing a lovely lullaby, Tiptoe joins in on his drum. Tilly gets him settled again until he appears demanding a story a short while later. Then, just as Tilly gets herself ready for bed, she wonders aloud “Who’s going to tuck me in? Who’s going to kiss me goodnight?” Can you guess? I laughed so hard when I turned the page.

Hector is very happy sitting on Tilly’s lap. He doesn’t want to share Tilly with Tiptoe when he wants to play with her. So Tiptoe joins Hector on Tilly’s lap… and then so does everyone else! He is now the unhappiest he has ever been, and no, he doesn’t want the others to play with him, especially not Tumpty to sit in his lap! But then a kind gesture from Tilly clears the air and Hector is the happiest happiest he has ever been. He even lets Tiptoe paint his nose blue.

Are you beginning to see how amazingly brilliant these books are? Not only are they just too much fun, there’s a little message about friendship in each one.

Tumpty, the elephant, tries many different ways to hide. But in a little yellow house, it’s a little more difficult than he might think; closing his eyes just isn’t quite enough. And when his friends laugh and laugh at his efforts to hide, he wanders off with a “Humph.” His friends then look for him everywhere and think they upset him so much he ran away! Tiptoe looked for him in the biscuit tin with no success and so they all drown their sorrows in biscuits, wondering if Tumpty has gone forever. But, whose trunk is that reaching for the biscuit tin?

And finally, I think Pretty Pru is my favourite of the 6 books. Mainly for one particular image that had me literally rolling on the floor with laughter when I first saw it. But we’ll get to that soon.

When Pru won’t share her make-up, Tumpty takes it without permission to share with his other friends. Meanwhile, Pru asks Tilly to help her look for her lost handbag. So they ask Hector:

My goodness that page never fails to make me laugh! But by the time the handbag is found (on top of Tumpty’s head!) Pru is not laughing. It’s not nice to take people things without asking. But then Pru decides to share her lipstick and they all have great fun!

I wanted to keep this short, but when talking about six books in one review, I wanted you to know that they are all fantastic stories on their own, but make the most perfect set ever!

As the back of each of the books says: “Everyone wants to be Tilly’s Friend” and it’s true! I know I do, and you should too!

Got kids? Get these books! (For yourself, if not for them). Everyone should know the work of Polly Dunbar!

Your Highness

When I saw the trailer for Your Highness, I thought, ‘That looks pretty funny! It’s about time that there was a fanstay/comedy that actually had a semi-decent budget and cast.

Now I’ve had a chance to see it, I can tell you this: it is very funny*

*I need to qualify that. It is hilarious, if you like inappropriate and crude humour. Not the kind of movie you would sit and watch with your parents. (especially if your parents are the reserved type, who much prefer good clean fun).

But, if you are not easily offended, and want an action, adventure, fantasy, comedy (not for kids), then Your Highness could be your cup of tea. Oh and there’s LOTS of swearing…

It’s the type of film I found myself asking ‘why did Natalie Portman agree to this?’ and then answering my own question: ‘because she would have just finished working on Black Swan and ANYONE would want a silly laugh after that!’

Let’s just say, it makes you rethink what a warrior’s trophy from a kill might be.

The BFG by Roald Dahl

I’m ashamed to admit, that if you look on my shelf, you will find a copy of Roald Dahl’s The BFG with a bookmark (a leather one, hand-decorated by my 8 year-old self) still marking the page where, for some reason lost to time, I stopped reading it. This bookmark has long remained untouched, but has not been forgotten. The shame of not finishing that book has haunted my reading life the way a faded stain on the carpet might haunt a tenant who is hoping for their entire bond back.

So, yesterday, I had a day where I would be in the car for a number of hours and thought to myself that I would finally lay the ghost of my youth to rest, and listen to the audio book right through.

If you haven’t read it, you must! I now find myself scolding my 8 year-old self for being such a fool in not finishing it, but at the same time, revelling in the fact that I could appreciate this book as an adult reader.

However, if you get the chance, you should definitely listen to the version read by Geoffrey Palmer. His voice for the Big Friendly Giant had me laughing out loud as I drove up the freeway. Then, when I thought it couldn’t get better, in come the Queen of England… Between those two characters, I thought it was just hilarious! Anyone who has read it will know that the BGF has a very particular way of talking. So, imagine hearing him talk, without having to make your brain process what the word in front of you looks like, and then how it would sound. Geoffrey Palmer reads it all like he’s been speaking that way for his entire life.

The whole thing was so enjoyable! So, if you’ve got a shame-faced child somewhere inside you, that is blushing because they either didn’t finish The BFG like I did, or perhaps they didn’t read it at all: Do away with the guilt! Do away with the shame! Get your hands on this marvellous book and laugh! … and live!

Jane Slayre - Charlotte Bronte and Sherri Browning Erwin

Well, this was the latest read selected for the 'Non-pretentious Bookclub'. And Non-pretentious is a good way to describe this new genre. Purists should steer clear but those after a chuckle and like a bit of slaying, staking and beheading, this type of thing is perfect.

This particular one, however, is probably not the best one to start with. While I found parts of it quite amusing, there were long stretches where not a lot happened.

Admittedly, I have not read Jane Ayre so, I can't really compare it to the original classic. However, I think that part of the fun for me was trying to work out what might have actually been happening in the normal version.

There were moments that I was laughing out loud at this book, but there were others in the bookclub that didn't find it amusing at all.

This genre might be viewed in light of "making the classics accessible", and while I would agree with that for the most part, personally I'm not against reading classics and have quite enjoyed the ones that I have. But then I can also see the humour in these. I am very much looking forward to when I have the time to read 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies' and even more so, looking forward to the movie adaptation staring Natalie Portman: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1374989/

Sorry that this review is a bit jumpy, it's been a few weeks since I finished the book. I'll try and review closer to finishing so I am more eloquent.