Posts Tagged ‘humour’
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Christmas Break
1I will be closed for Blog Renovations for the next few days, planning a triumphant and totally amazing return just after Christmas.
There are exciting plans in the pipeline for 2011 including a new website project in partnership with Meredith from Oh, The Thinks you Can Think, a revamped Reading Upside Down blog and a big start to the year with Meredith and I committed to a poetry war over at Kat Apel’s Month of Poetry challenge.
I’d like to wish you all a wonderful Christmas break and pray that you will enjoy all the blessings of the season. To get you in the mood, I leave you with the Silent Monks performance of the Hallelujah Chorus. Enjoy.
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Book Review: It’s a Book by Lane Smith
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Summary (Walker Books)
CAN IT TEXT? BLOG? SCROLL? WI-FI? TWEET? No. . . It’s a book.
No matter how many electronic devices are available these days, you can’t deny the simple appeal of a good book. Monkey is reading a book, but his friend wants to know what the book can do. Does it have a mouse like his computer? Can you make the characters fight? And does it make loud noises? No, it’s a book.
Monkey’s friend discovers that a good book doesn’t need fancy electronic accessories.
Comments
I love, love, love this book and not just because it is a rather witty dig at e-books or because of the awesome final line. The illustrations are also warmly appealing with a quirky simplicity that I really like, giving Monkey, Jackass and Mouse a surprising amount of personality given the sparseness of the text.
I’m a fan of e-books, particularly for accessing non-fiction, reference and pulp fiction books, but I can’t come to terms with children’s picture books being available in e-book format. There is something so incredibly appealing and personal about holding a picture book and exploring it at your own pace and in your own way that I think is lost in the electronic form. Maybe this explains my particular fondness for this story.
All three of my children have enjoyed reading It’s a Book, each getting something different from it. We have all enjoyed the humour, with my older son particularly enjoying the text-speak translation of the pirate story.
I like that It’s a Book celebrates books without necessarily criticising technology. It simply highlights the ways that the experience of reading a print book differs from the experience of interacting with screens and technology.
This is definitely a picture book the whole family can enjoy. Encourage your school librarian to order a copy and make sure you have one on your bookshelf at home.
Review Copy Details
Title: It’s a Book
Author/Illustrator: Lane Smith
Publisher: Walker Books Australia, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-921720-14-7
Genre: Picture Book
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Book Review – 90 Classic Books for People in a Hurry by Henrik Lange
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Title: 90 Classic Books for People in a Hurry
Author: Henrik Lange
Publisher: Nicotext, 2008
ISBN: 978-91-85869-29-9
Topic: Literature, Humour
This is a fun gift book ideal for the book lover with a sense of humour. 90 classic literary works are each summarised in four illustrated cartoon panels or more accurately a title panel and three story panels.
The selection covers a wide range of genres, everything from The Bible to Douglas Adams’ Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. There are some more recent titles, such as Yann Martel’s 2001 The Life of Pi, but the majority of titles are from titles published prior to 1950.
Most of the summaries are quite humorous for anyone with knowledge of the book in question. Some come across as more straightforward, and seem to fall a little flat in comparison to other panels. For some books, the fact that they can be summarised in three small cartoon panels is amusing in itself.
Meredith and I had a good giggle flicking through this book. It doesn’t compare with the interesting overview that books such as Beowulf on the Beach offer, but it is amusing and offers a quirky summary of some fantastic titles.
This book is an adaptation of the original book – 80 romaner för dig som har bråttom, published in 2007.
90 Classic Books for People in a Hurry is distributed in Australia by Bookwise International, RRP $16.95
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Book Review – Dear Fatty by Dawn French
1Title: 
Dear Fatty
Author: Dawn French
Publisher: Arrow Books, 2009 (366 pages)
ISBN: 978-0-09-951947-8
I was always a fan of Dawn French’s work – both in her roles in film and television such as The Vicar of Dibley and with her long-time comedy partner Jennifer Saunders (the “Fatty” of the title). After reading these funny, warm and personal memoirs, she now seems like one of the few celebs I could imagine inviting over for a cuppa or glass of plonk, a packet of Tim-Tams and a natter without cleaning up. You know – those friends that can show up at a moment’s notice and you don’t panic about the breakfast dishes in the sink, the sticky kitchen floor and the cat hair on the good lounge. I’d be too busy laughing to feel slack, and I like to think she’d be kind enough to overlook such things.
When French addresses her readers in the opening chapter of Dear Fatty, it is obvious this is not going to be a stock-standard celebrity autobiography. With each chapter a letter addressed to a specific person in her life, French maintains a vague chronological order of the memorable times of her life, but avoids all the boring explanation in-between. Fans of Dawn’s comedy will be delighted with the humour with which she approaches almost all subjects – from teen embarrassments to teaching to stardom. I really did laugh out loud. And yet there is a beautiful honesty as well, particularly in the chapters written to her father (who died when she was just 19) and her husband, Lenny Henry, that makes you feel like you know her personally.
Which is probably why I can picture Dawn French in my lounge room. I’m imagining Catherine Zeta-Jones there too, because I think they kind of look alike, and I like to think she’d bring a few extra bottles of a good cab sav and have the best Hollywood gossip to share. The three of us could be gal pals. Oh dear, slipped into fantasy there… and some women fantasize about Brad Pitt…
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Book Review – Too Many Toys by David Shannon
1Title: Too Many Toys
Author/Illustrator: David Shannon
Publisher: Blue Sky Press (Scholastic), 2008
ISBN: 978-0-439-49029-0
With illustrations of Lego, train tracks, toy musical instruments, art supplies and miscellaneous game board and puzzle pieces all over the floor, I’m concerned that author/illustrator David Shannon has set up some sort of spy camera in my home.
This fun picture book is about Spencer, a boy with too many toys. After his father has an unfortunate barefoot encounter with a piece of Lego and his mother trips over scattered train tracks and Matchbox cars, Spencer’s mother declares “You have too many toys”.
This is the beginning of negotiations between Spencer and his mother about what has to go and what can stay.
Kids will enjoy Spencer’s attempts to convince his mother to keep all his toys and parents will enjoy the opportunities Too Many Toys presents to say “this is just like you!”
The large, bright illustrations will keep children amused as they try to find their favourite toys amongst Spencer’s impressive collection.
