Monster Mess

When I brought home 'Monster Mess' by Lewis Trondheim from my Gosh shop I didn't realise I'd inadvertently picked out one of the husband's favourite cartoonists. See how our hearts beat as one dear? I'm sure Bill would like some of his adult books too now I look at them. They're quite heavy on poo and mindless violence and very funny. Nevertheless we'll hold them back a few years; he doesn't need any extra encouragement in the first two after all and 'Monster Mess' is plenty funny without Any Poo At All.

Trondheim has a very small and controlled style of drawing. This is a comic book that you have to get your nose quite close to the page to read the little print and follow the frames. I like that. It seems to foster a kind of immersive nerdery generated by all the best comics. You want to curl yourself up in a box with it and escape. Not for sharing. Not for reading aloud. Just for one.

'Monster Mess' is the first of four Monster graphic novels (I'm not sure about the term graphic novel here- but that's what it describes itself as. Can't we call it a comic book and not get all uppity? Or is that inverse snobbery from me?). It's a Frankenstein familiar tale. The children of cartoonist parents (they're drawn as an indeterminate species of bird but don't let that worry you) draw a set of monsters and then  bring one to life after an accident with some magic powder. Their father then draws a 10 mouthed friendly monster and animates him too, with the idea that he can catch and eat the baddy one. Unfortunately Kriss, as they call him, is not very focused on the task set (note- monsters do NOT make good family pets) and sets about causing his own brand of havoc around the house.
The whole family must unite with Kriss in forming a new plan to take down bad monster Oko, but a heap of new trouble awaits as Oko creates his own team by animating all the other monster pictures in the house. Running away from them is problematic as, being only the thickness of a piece of paper, they can get under windows and through cracks. It's definitely more than a little menacing. A showdown on a neighbour's roof sees the finale and...well the fact that there are three more books suggests escape may be possible.

The charm of the book lies in the well observed family dynamics (a cautionary tale for any of us who have left our children playing 'quietly' unobserved for a little too long) and also in the use of real children's drawings to create Team Bad Monster. It's a lovely juxtaposition of drawing styles and it seems clear that the book must have been originally drawn for and as a reflection of Trondheim's own family. There's a whole lotta love in them there flesh-eating paper bad guys.

Lewis Trondheim is a prolific French cartoonist of some renown and these books date from the 1990s but are only now being published in translation. Again I bought them as a US import so it appears you may need to do your own comic shop foray or use Amazon if you want them. Bill enjoyed this one so much that I've already added 'Monster Christmas' to my ever growing 'basket', the other two aren't out yet.

 Monster end papers

'Monster Mess' by Lewis Trondheim, pub. Papercutz isbn 978-1-59707-294-6

We created our own scene of monster/robot destruction and despair courtesy of some very pretty buttons and ribbon sent to us by Child-Led-Chaos. It was a very rainy weekend. Just as well no magic animating powder in this house; 20,000 dead apparently.

Zoom and Rezoom

As promised, this week I'll devote myself to proper consideration of our Gosh purchases.

I like to start the week with the simplest books and progress in complexity and accordingly I'll begin today with two wordless books. Don't be deceived however, these are not picture books for the youngest and whilst Bill has enjoyed them I think he will get even more out of them in years to come. The husband had to take a tea break halfway through looking at 'Zoom' as his head was being messed with so much.

They are relatively speaking 'old' books; first published in 1995, but I had not come across them before and I'm not entirely clear whether they were ever published in the UK. Certainly the copies I bought were US imports. I apologise however if you are reading this review rolling your eyes at the idea that anyone could not know these classic books. They may have just passed me by until now.

I'm very glad that I've rectified my omission if that is the case. They are objects of marvel and wonder; solo trick or gimmick notwithstanding. Istvan Banyai presents a series of single frame images; one to a page, and each drawn with both technical precision and classy graphic clarity. As you turn each page, you grasp that you are being presented with a series of optical illusions as each image zooms out on the previous one. Thus a farm turns out to be a toy farm being played with, which in turn becomes the front cover of a magazine. The entire zoom out being sustained through the entire 30 page book. It's very, very clever.

Once you understand the principle there is more fun to be had going back through the pages and spotting the clues that tell you where the next scene might be heading. There is also fun to be had contemplating the world around you anew from the perspective of an ant or a Lego man. It  reminds me of this toy that has been doing the rounds on the internet which allows you some contemplation of the infinite in zooming. Dizzy making Alice in Wonderland stuff. I may need to spend some time just sitting on an ordinary chair holding an ordinary mug looking out of an ordinary window trying to reacquaint myself with the scale of human.

'Zoom' by Istvan Banyai, pub. Puffin isbn 978-0-14-055774-9

Buying comics

After last week's 'up all-nighter' (or more accurately 'up most of the early-eveninger') with 'Super Animal Adventure Squad' Bill and I have had a week of fairly gorging ourselves on comic/graphic novel fare.

First I made a tentative foray to Gosh, a specialist comic shop in Soho to see what I could forage for us both. This is the husband's territory. He's been making visits there for years, coming back with discreet bags which he then takes down to enjoy in his shed at the bottom of the garden. Occasionally the bags spend some time on the kitchen table first and by long term marital osmosis I have started to absorb some of his enthusiasm and discover some of the more mainstream grown up stuff myself. (hurray in passing for Chris Ware, Daniel Clowes, Craig Thompson, Tom Gauld and Dash Shaw) But you know I was/am a straight laced ballet/pony book girl not a cool comic geek girl. I don't really know what I am doing and the thought of a Proper Comic Shop was a little scary. I envisaged being faced with something like a specialist vinyl shop where pasty Men of Knowledge would turn together and stare at me before returning to obsessive sorting through brown boxes of plastic wrapped back titles and I would have to scuttle away shamed.

But no! It was all good! Gosh has recently moved into new premises in Berwick Street and I have to say they are extremely welcoming for the novice browser. They lure you in with big open glass doors and stacks of ordered loveliness. And they turn out to have a dedicated and beautiful children's section packed full of US import treats which would be hard to get anywhere else. There were stairs at the back leading to the basement; I suspect that's where the Proper Comic Buyers head and the brown boxes might live. I was happy to stick to the ground floor baby slopes for my first visit.

While I was rifling the shelves happily a rather smart and imposing woman came in and asked the assistant in ringing tones for help finding suitable titles for her 11 year old. "He raced through 'Bone' that you recommended last week. Have you got anything of a similar standard of reading difficulty and quality? I want something to occupy him for at least 3 hours please- that looks far too short." The patient assistant made many suggestions. I liked the conflict that was obviously surging within her. 'I don't understand, like, admire or identify with any of these titles but at least he's READING so I'll make the best of it for a minimum of 3 hours of silence.'

So here was my first self-selected kitchen table haul. I thought the assistant had probably had enough helping picky Mamas.

Which have all been more or less devoured now. Probably in about 3 hours give or take but I'm not so picky. Proper reviews to follow.

Not only did I make it to Gosh but I also took the boys briefly to Comiket on Saturday afternoon. We arrived late but just in time to see James Turner do his live drawing of 'Star Cat' which was a thrill for Bill. Here's a rubbish photo of the big screen action.

There was quite a lot of watching James Turner's head due to unfortunate light positioning.
We briefly browsed the stalls but Eddie had had enough within minutes, and it was crowded, and I ran out of small change, and I wasn't sure what was going to be kid suitable and what wasn't so we didn't stay all that long. I felt that I might be starting to wade out of my depth. But we did get these (not that we needed an indie comic fair for them!):

 And we met Andi Watson and he signed Bill's 'Gum Girl'. I was quite put in my place about 'Gum Girl' by Bill:
'What do you think Bill? Should we get this or is it too pink and girly for you to read?'
'No mum, just looks cool and superheroey to me. Get it please.'
And he's gulped down that this week too.

We're really excited to learn that there's going to be a dedicated kids comic tent as part of the Pop Up Festival in June. Our education can continue there. Hell, I may even make it down the stairs at Gosh before then.
So Cool Kids what should we buying next?

Pony book diversions

It's raining again. Really raining this time. Pouring with rain. The bit of roof which sometimes leaks has its first drip poised to fall. It's rained every day now for about the last three weeks and the forecast ahead is for more of it as far as the eye can see. I don't think I'm the only one who is feeling a little grumpy even though we are not allowed to be grumpy because we are Officially In Drought and Goodness Knows the Earth Needs It.

So I'm going into regression today with the remnants of my once reasonably substantial collection of pony books. It is a day for retiring under the duvet with an abandoned yearling rescued from the knacker's yard for a guinea to nurse back to health and win a show jumping cup. I'm going to make a mug of tea and then be schooled in my pony club C test by a retired Major in sticky out breeches and pray that the mane plaits don't fall out.

These are not books I EVER forsee sharing with the Fellow Reviewers. sigh. They're tolerant but not that tolerant.

The Pullein-Thompson sisters, Josephine, Christine and Diana and their mother Joanna Cannan (bf of Georgette Heyer!- Best Ever Comfort Read Writers United! I heart them.) were almost exclusively responsible for my reading matter between the ages of 9 and 11, with occasional diversions into Ruby Ferguson's 'Jill' pony books and ex-show jumper Pat Smythe's exciting 'Three Jays' series. There have probably been more worthy and nourishing reading periods in my life but none where I learn't more about etiquette on the hunting field or the differences between an oxer and a brush fence.

Whilst two of the formidable Pullein-Thompson sisters I am glad to see are still alive and were still writing and being published into the 1990s, I think it's fair to say that the Golden Age of the horse book was the 1940s,50s and 60s. In their later books they appear a little uncomfortably forced into concessions to our (tut and sigh) changing times. Urban Comprehensives with attached riding clubs are thin on the ground in my experience.

The plots of the earlier books tend to operate along the lines of large horse-loving, noble but poor family; normally children of distant and conveniently preoccupied artist parents, who must share their scruffy but oh-so- loved ponies meet rich (between the lines nouveau riche- euch!), snobbish child with groom and 'perfect' show horse who will find redemption for those crimes by being humiliated at either pony club camp, village show or on the hunting field. Sometimes there's some bad, horse stealing gypsies. There's also always an ex-army Master of Hounds to dispense horsey wisdom and fatherly advice about proper leg position when jumping. The worst thing that can happen is laminitis if you let your pony eat too much rich grass.

How I loved them and greedily hoovered up all their horsey wisdom ready for the day when I too should encounter an escaping Arab mare on the streets of Cambridge and be allowed to keep her in gratitude for putting out a barn fire or rescuing her foal. I'm still waiting.

Because it's raining I'm going to treat you to the last page of 'Pony Jobs for Jill' by Ruby Ferguson. The last book in a series of six books which begins with 'Jill and the Perfect Pony' and continues with 'Jill has two Ponies' (you see the pattern). Get a warm drink, a biscuit and enjoy the nostalgia of what used to count as proper reading for girls.

"'It's just these pony jobs,' I explained. "They always turn out unexpected. But this one's all over now, and we're going home tomorrow."
"And we don't know what we'll do next," said Ann sadly. "You see, our mothers expect us to do something with a future in it. We're getting rather old now."
Captain Cholly-Sawcutt looked serious.
"Yes, you are. Too old to play around any more. You've had lots of fun and I agree with your mothers it's high time you settled down."
"But what are we going to do?" I asked. "Because we don't know."
"I'll tell you what you're going to do," he said. "You're going to get yourselves seriously trained for some proper job, and you're going to keep up your riding for a hobby. You'll always enjoy it, but you can't be kids for ever, playing around with your ponies. Now you two get back to Chatton and tell your mothers what I say, and jolly good luck with whatever profession you take up. Agreed?"
"I do think you're right," I said. "And whatever Mummy suggests I'll get down to it. I'll learn typing and shorthand and French and German."
"So will I," said Ann. "It's a deal. This is our very last fling, and now we're going to be grown up."
"Coo!" I said. "I feel as if I was secretary to the Prime Minister already. Let's go and have another ice to celebrate."'

Secretary to the Prime Minister- oh my giddy heights!

My Precious

 Loan endorsement

Jim

Reciting Hillaire Belloc's Cautionary Tale: 'Jim who ran away from nurse and was eaten by a lion' was a party piece of mine when younger. As part of some volunteer action with the Girl Guides we occasionally toured Old Peoples' Homes and put on a bit of a 'show': My recitations came somewhere in between singing in rounds and  the passing about of home made peppermint creams. We probably helped loosen the will to live of several.

It may have been an unconscious desire to give me a dose of what she had had to endure (I had to practice for those Old Folk after all) that my lovely stepmother gave Eddie and Bill a copy of Mini Grey's pop up transformation of 'Jim'. She couldn't have known how effective it would prove. Whether it's a genetic propensity that draws them to it or whether Belloc is just very catchy indeed, recitation skills are alive and blossoming in the house.

The poem is, I have to say, the perfect vehicle for Mini Grey's dark and anarchic rich illustrative humour. Poor pallid and weedy Jim is force fed treats, cramped onto tiny trikes, bored stupid by repetitious stories and neglected by his flirtatious nurse. His race towards the lion looks like a break for the blessings of oblivion in an overly trammeled existence. At any rate, neither he nor we seem to mind too much about his inevitable demise. Bill and Eddie gleefully open the flap revealing the disappearance of his body with just bloodied ankles, arms and head remaining. Not a pop up for a sensitive child admittedly: I've not looked at the reviews on Amazon but suspect there will be some horrified buyers sending back this abusive filth. Thankfully, my two aren't big on sensitivity; they LOVE the book.

The details of the pop up make the book as much a treat for the adult reader, a map of the zoo opens up to reveal a comprehensive set of rules to enjoy:
'No winking, no blinking,drinking,stinking or thinking.
No clapping, slapping, napping, tapping, flapping or yapping.
No yowling, howling, or prowling.
Don't try anything clever.'
A neat head shaped urn is lightly dusted at the end whilst Jim's controlled parents' dab their eyes with very mild regret.

 A great choice of bedtime story at the end of a day when your own feelings about the benefits of parenthood may be running ragged: It gives you a brief glimpse of a vicarious alternative future and your children a little reminder to count their blessings. Once you've both enjoyed your separate frissons of delighted horror everyone can go to bed united, happy that there are no lions outside the door.

 And here is Eddie's Christmas recitation with accompanying upstaging by Bill for those that don't know the full poem. Apologies because I did once post this link before, but in a ham fisted way with no review or context so wanted to do the book justice now. It is shameful Proud Mummy parading but he's not going to be cute for much longer so I hope you'll indulge me.

'Jim- a Cautionary Tale' by Hillaire Belloc and Mini Grey, published Jonathan Cape
isbn 978-0-224-08367-6

Croc and Bird (and thanks)

First some overdue thanks: Whilst we were away on holiday we were honoured to be nominated for a 'One Lovely Blog award here by the brilliant and herself lovely Child Led Chaos. One of the nicest things about starting this blog has been making a whole clutch of new online friends. In my latest tentative paddling into Twitter (I am NOT an 'early adopter' by nature)(I still use the landline and keep the mobile for emergencies), Child Led Chaos has been the most welcoming and generous 'hand holder'.
Her blog is a great mix of book and product reviews and crafting exploits with her girls and always a funny and enjoyable read. Do go visit- and take your wallet- she'll have you lusting after lovely wooden toys you thought you'd grown out of.

The other debt of  thanks I should acknowledge today is to another 'lovely' blog; Library Mice which was where I read the first review of today's choice; Alexis Deacon's 'Croc and Bird'. I love Alexis Deacon's 'Beegu' so was excited to see a new book by him anyway. Having read the review I was even more keen to seek it out.

This is a very good book for our family:
'Side by side on the sand sat two eggs. A bird...and a crocodile. "Hello brother," said Bird, "I'm hungry," said Crocodile.'
It's fair to say the Fellow Reviewers in the household might as well be a crocodile and a bird in their approach to the world and each other at times. 'I'm going to eat you' and 'Stop poking me with that stick' and 'Get off my head I am dead and I am going to make you dead.' are heard rather more often than 'What co-operative, fair trade game shall we play nicely together with now?' or 'No no. I think you'll find it's YOUR turn' etc.

Actually I quite like it when they fight nicely as it seems healthier than just ignoring each other to pursue their separate interests which also happens. Same gene pool; different creatures.

So this perfect small story of how a crocodile and a bird grow up side by side and learn to depend on each other as family had resonance for me and I hoped it would for Bill and Eddie too. Croc and Bird teach each other how to sing, fly, bask and hunt buffalo without realising their difference until they eventually move into the jungle and come across others of their own species. They must then make decisions about where they really belong. It's an example of the picture book at it's most powerful, where a spare text married with the most beautiful and love-infused illustrations can be read in a myriad of ways about the meanings of family and friendship. Warning; it may make you teary.

Did it move the boys and make them realise the strength of their bonds anew, the life long importance of their sibling relationship and shared experiences of childhood? Did it make them embrace tearily and vow to face the world united forever?
Nah.
course not.
But.
Eddie has 'adopted' this book. When he's sitting at the table and he feels his dinner is taking too long to arrive he likes to make like Bird and quotes plaintively from the book:

"Open your mouth as wide as you can and food will come"

At which point Bill likes to act like Croc and try and throw something in.
And then they'll both giggle together.
I'll settle for the shared laughter.

'Croc and Bird' by Alexis Deacon. pub. Random house isbn 978-0-091-89332-3
(another book with glorious end papers! eggs one side, hatchlings the other...)

Super Animal Adventure Squad

Conversation circa 7am today-
'Morning Bill! Sleep well?'
'Yup. Oh but I stayed up nearly all night reading the WHOLE of 'Super Animal Adventure Squad'. It was really funny. I think it was at least 10 o' clock- hmm no maybe 9 o' clock- but really late anyway when I turned my light out'

That's today's review sorted then.

'Super Animal Adventure Squad' is a strip by James Turner that originally appeared in the DFC comic. Since that publication's demise it is one of a series that has been collated and given its own volume under the 'DFC library' banner. James Turner is also responsible for what may be my favourite 'Phoenix' comic strip; the marvellous 'Star Cat'. That both came from the same hand is not all that mysterious; the Squad and the Space Crew have a fair amount in common.

There are two stories in the volume. In 'Teatime of Doom' Agents K, Rex, Irwin, Beesley and Bearbot (variously cat, iguana, pelican, bee and robot) must stop evil Doctor Nefarious from stealing the world's cake supply with ants to force consumption of his own brand broccoli sponge (Nooooo!). In the longer 'The Case of the Baboon Bandit' our heroes turn pirate to try and steal back the Jade Baboon of Rangoon from Green Beard, but must then go even further and win a cookery competition on board to save the entire world from turning into a lemon souffle.

clear?

'Alright, the world is doomed unless we can win this cookery competition and all we have is a soggy, burned, fish-covered mess that Irwin has been sick on... But let's not panic- perhaps we still have time to make an omelette or something...'

(and who's not been THERE eh?)

Gloriously, gloriously, snortingly silly stuff. AND extremely cleverly written too (just in case anyone is misguided enough to be snobbish about a comic)(or thinks it is just about 'Asterix' and 'Tintin')(I KNOW all my readers are far too hip and discerning to fall into that category though)
It's been sitting on Bill's shelf for a while. I'm glad he's discovered it; I've been waiting to have a good chat with him about it. When he's caught up on his sleep of course.

'Super Animal Adventure Squad' by James Turner, pub. David Fickling Books, isbn 978-0 857 56027 8