Monster and Chips

So today the great baking and book jamboree that was Playing By the Book's Edible Book Festival draws to a close. If you haven't been to gawp at the entries do stop by; there's some crackers. At the time of writing the winners remain unannounced, however it seems unlikely that our scruffy butter iced renderings of severed heads and putrifying flesh will emerge triumphant.

Yes, we EXCLUSIVELY reveal ourselves today as the creators of Hilaire Belloc and Mini Grey's dismembered Jim and lion in cake form. This will not come as any surprise to regular readers who know that it is a bit of a fave for performance in the house.

We particularly enjoyed rendering spinal cord out of strawberry bootlace. I am immodestly proud of the guilty expression of the lion as he hoovers it up. Bill enjoyed eating decapitated Jim with worrying relish.

Our second entry related to a much newer book; 'Monster and Chips' by David O'Connell. Bill is drawing like a fury these days. What he draws is almost exclusively crazy featured people who are either in the middle of or about to commit acts of violence on other crazy featured people. I am very partial to them. He's not quite ready to draw his own comics yet (he tends to wander off after the first panel) but it's probably only a matter of time.
To encourage this enthusiasm (and to allow Eddie and me to enjoy the gentler pleasures of bunny brothers- more of which next post) I signed him up for David O'Connell's comic workshop at the Imagine Festival in half term. We also picked up a copy of the book there and Bill read it on the tube all the way home, letting out gratifying throaty chortles at regular intervals.

It's a simple tale of the pleasures and dangers of embarking on a career in monster catering. Joe; an ordinary boy, finds a portal through to Fuzzby's Diner in a parallel monster universe. The genial Fuzzby, who is very large and very green and furry, takes on Joe as washer upper and sous chef where he learns to create dishes such as 'Mixed arthropod grill in phlegm coulis' or (my favourite) 'Battered Unmentionables'. Most importantly, however disgusting sounding the dish, all are served with their famous (and conventional) chips. Joe must learn to cook without being eaten himself and help unmask dastardly goings on at the Monsterchef contest.

It's enjoyable stuff, but what makes it most enjoyable are the illustrations throughout. I'd say it would be an excellent choice for the seasoned comic lover who needs confidence building to also enjoy books. I really liked the little footnote bottom panels where the cute potato-shaped Guzzelins give their perspective on the action.

So Edible books then. We could have tackled 'Fungal Infection Fritters and chips' or similar of course but on balance we went for the zombie cup cakes. Joe inadvertently creates these in the story and then is forced on the run only escaping through clever use of a vat of frog custard.

"The zombie-cakes had jumped down from the counter and were slowly advancing towards them, chanting BRAAIINNSS! all the time"

We tackled ours more easily with our mouths. They were pretty good- but their super-sour jawbreaker eyeballs definitely fought back.

'Monster and Chips' by David O'Connell pub. Harper Collins isbn 978-0-00-749713-3

Where Bill's head is at currently. I think this is normal.

The Interactive Art Book

'The Interactive Art Book' by Ron Van Der Meer and Frank Whitford is an updated reissue of an art pop-up book that first appeared in 1998. Although that is some years before I became a parent I can remember playing with a well-used 'tester' of that first incarnation of the book in the National Gallery bookshop and feeling a bit sad that I had no excuse to buy it. I am very glad to have a proper turn with it now.

It's a kind of hop around the history and processes of making art in seven crammed spreads of fun. It includes pop-up explanations of perspective, construct your own abstract sculptures, plenty of flaps to lift and optical illusions to explore. This may sound pretty gimmicky and superficial but there's surprisingly complex information, and lots of it crammed in between the fun. I really enjoyed the 'Stories and Puzzles' page for instance with its 3D peephole version of Velazquez's 'Las Meninas'. You get to view the picture both as audience and as painter and then read the story round the outside about the sub text of its composition.

Of course Bill and Eddie are really only about the fun at this stage; fighting over the 3D glasses and spinning the phenakistoscope. But I can see this is a book that we'll return to and get different things out of as they get older. At the back of the book is a whole other paperback activity book with suggestions for do-it-yourself art. Bill was completely taken with the cartoons of Gustav Verbeek reproduced in this section; which must be read one way and then turned upside down to continue the story back again. He also really liked the idea of pictures as detective stories with hidden clues that can be interpreted. A more informed trip to the National Gallery may be called for.

My own first introduction to art masterpieces as a child was through repeated playings of an obscure board game called 'Masterpiece' where you had to auction reproductions of National Gallery favourites without knowing what worth they had been assigned. An early, apparently respectable and intellectually nourishing version of 'Deal or no Deal'; it featured a good variety of Great Works including Da Vinci, Manet and Vermeer. You can tell it was from a more innocent time because as I recall (Austin Powers like) the absolute, most amount of money a painting could be worth was £1,000,000.

I'd like to say playing Masterpiece nurtured a precocious artistic appreciation in me but all I can remember is staring at the picture cards and wondering why on earth would ANYONE pay money for a boring old Turner or Rembrandt.
You grow into some things.

Hopefully 'The Interactive Art Book' will help the boys see the point rather more quickly. In the meantime they're definitely enjoying practising their upside-down cartoon skills.

'The Interactive Art Book' by Ron Van Der Meer and Frank Whitford, pub. Tangopaper isbn 978-1-909142-02-2

Disclosure: We were sent a copy of the book by kindness of the publisher. Our opinions are our own.

Happy World Book Day 2013

It's come round AGAIN!

I love it so much: We shared the bus trip to school today with Hermione and Voldemort, Batman and Tintin. Then in the playground, we had to dodge an Enormous Crocodile, got chased by Funnybones and rescued by Rapunzel.

The teachers threw open the doors dressed as Captain Underpants (brave), Wally, The Cat in the Hat, Winnie the Witch and others..

But I think the kids I love most of all are the ones where you have absolutely NO IDEA who they are because they've picked some obscure character from some obscure book and are faithfully living the part for the day. They're playing for themselves not for the crowd. Hurray for a day for Book Nerds!

So the Fellow Reviewers?

Here they are- I present one Dinkin Dings ready to be frightened of everything EXCEPT his Frightening things.

And here is the one, the only Mr. Willy Wonka- faithful to Quentin Blake down to the last detail- "...and I must have pearly grey gloves Mum, and a small black goatee, and Totally Orange socks not the ones with blue heels and bottle green trousers and..."

Thank God for the miracle that is polyester dye. I just hope he doesn't sit next to any naked flames or severely asthmatic children today.

Have a Great Book-Fun-Filled Day

Claude

Some books Eddie hearts in an absolute and immediate way on first introduction, there are plenty he hearts never, despite objective merit  and a select few are slow creepers, that must be read a few times in his hearing whilst he runs-up-and-down-paying-no-apparent-attention-at-all until; all of a sudden, he GETS them and then Will not Be Parted From Them Ever Again. There is no knowing in advance which way he'll go.

The wonderful 'Claude' books by Alex T. Smith I am delighted to announce have recently come into this last category. Phew. I'd been loving them for a while; they have great parent appeal, but it's reassuring that they have also become a hit with the intended audience. The occasional division between parental admiration and child-love for books is a problem many will recognise. In the same way my lovely homemade lentil and tomato soup is spat out in favour of Heinz, one's children can show TERRIBLE taste in books. (Please God not the Mr Men again, please God no. Please. Noooooo!...)

 Claude is a small, natttily-dressed and extremely talented dog with a thirst for adventure not always shared by his life companion; the enigmatic Sir Bobblysock. Who, in case it needs clarifying, is a sock. The books are packaged as perfect small illustrated chapter books, whilst not containing very much more text than a long picture book. Just the right amount for a newly confident reader to enjoy in one or two sittings and Feel Proud.

The parent appeal is in the very gentle innuendo and playful illustrations. It's fairly high camp: Sort of 'My First Carry On Claude'; (think saucily positioned vegetables) but in the most sweet and warm hearted way. Funny and fun to read.

Anyway, Eddie was given 'Claude in the Country' for his birthday and I read it to him a few times without him really 'noticing' it. Then we got 'Claude at the Circus' and a dramatic change occurred at a spread where Claude and Sir Bobblysock go ice cream shopping in the park. He stopped running back and forth and came over to assess the ice cream options very carefully indeed: "Sir Bobblysock chooses an ice lolly Mum. But I think I would choose a chocolate ice cream, maybe with a chocolate flake and maybe with a cherry on top."

That was all it needed. Claude sold. Eddie passionately engaged and now a near complete collection of Claude books in his bed and part of his nightly repertoire.

As I say. phew.

There is a moral here: Authors! Including choices of pudding items early in your books to maximise Eddie attraction. Ice cream sells.

A trio of Claudes- and there are more! Huzzah.

This is a very good example of the type of ice cream picture you may wish to include

'Claude at the Circus' (and others) by Alex T. Smith, pub. Hodder, isbn 978-0-340-99903-5

How to be a detective

Bill goes through slavish and completist phases in his trash television habits. At the moment it's all about 'Spongebob Squarepants'. A few months before that he was curiously hooked to 'Winx Club' or 'that slutty fairy show' as his parents liked to privately refer to it between themselves ('I don't know WHY I like it- I just do' says boy gazing intently at scantily dressed fairies). Sometime before that he was very into an obscure Australian show called 'Kid Detectives'. I liked this one (although I'm also quite partial to the odd Spongebob). In each 15 minute episode kids solved a series of 'real' crimes using proper basic forensic science eg. 'who broke mum's plantpot? Let's show you how to take earth samples from tyre imprints' etc: A kind of 'CSI-lite' for the under-10s.

In honour of this interest and in anticipation of my own future as Mother of Detective Superintendent I bought him 'How to be a Detective' for Christmas by Dan Waddell, illustrated by Jim Smith ('It's the same person as the 'I am not a Loser' guy Mum' 'Is it? So it is.' Good eye for illustrative style my boy). This is an irresistable lift the flap book with bells and whistles for the over-7s (there should be more grown up lift-the-flap books I reckon- we all love 'em)(I am using a lot of brackets today).

Each page is crammed with a mixture of basic forensic science, practical activities to try and the basics of deduction in a really attractive format. There's also a pull-out case to solve, a make-your-own periscope and an ink pad for fingerprinting members of your household (Note- do not give when guests in household with white sofas). Lots to enjoy.

We've now moved on to an appreciation of Simon Cheshire's 'Saxby Smart' books. Bill and I read them together and try to solve the clues to beat schoolboy detective Saxby to his conclusions. These are really enjoyable reads- three cases to each book- and so much more soothing than say, a Patricia Cornwall; not a festering corpse in sight.

I think we might form a Mother and Son agency. We're hot.

Okay some crazed photos are going to follow because my proper camera has broken.

you get the idea.

'How to be a Detective' by Dan Waddell, illustrated by Jim Smith pub. Walker books isbn 978-1-4063-3426-5
'Saxby Smart: The Fangs of the Dragon' (and other volumes) by Simon Cheshire pub. Picadilly isbn 978-1-85340-983-7

In Other News: It's Edible Book Festival time again over at Playing by the Book! We've already baked once and now we've eaten it All Up we may bake again as you're allowed two go's each; Bill has an idea...

Full details here: bit.ly/ediblebooks2013

To get you in the mood- here's a little teaser- a High Concept edible book. Name the title.

Lulu and the Treasure Hunt

A book review! I remember those! Ah well...apologies...I'm feeling a bit pulled in different directions at the moment and then end up doing nothing but going to the fridge to see if eating another bit of cheese will help.

So. As I have made reference to on other occasions, Master Eddie loves a lot of books but he does not love ALL books and he is often quite sniffy about NEW books. They must be sneaked under the wire when he is off guard to see if they will take or not.

But occasionally he surprises me by absolutely Hearting something on the very first exposure. 'Lulu and the Treasure Hunt!' by Emma Chichester Clark received that special Eddie accolade this week. Yesterday a wrestle with his brother went a bit wrong (much to the shame and chagrin of the brother I must note) and he ended up with a nasty graze on his chin. It took some time for this injury to be recovered from but it was 'Lulu' (possibly in combination with a few chocolate coins) that produced the first chuckle again. Eddie it seems, is extremely susceptible to the charm of a poodle in a spotty bow saying 'Ooh la la!'. And who can blame him for that?

This is the second book about Lulu from Emma Chichester Clark's Wagtail Town series. Lulu and her doggy friends go on a treasure hunt in the park but Lulu is torn between her desire to get to clues and her promise to look after smallest-dog -of-all; shih tzu Bonnie. The sad story of the guilt of responsibilities betrayed is familiar and gently handled. (It's not all sad in case you were worrying)
It's the format for the telling which is particularly satisfying for Eddie and me though. There's a really good map of the town at the beginning. There's much satisfying busy-ness to spot in the pictures and aside bubbles of text to read. There's a lot of potential for off-text discussions about favourites; a characteristic of many of our best books. "Which dog do YOU like the best Mum?"(Otto-always have a soft spot for a sausage dog) "Where would YOU like to live Mum?"(can't resist Bonnie's flat that looks like a piece of battenburg) "What colour chocolate bone would YOU choose MUM?" (yellow) We love the range of dog expressions in both eye and ear. It's all in lovely neopolitan ice-creamy happy colours too. One of those books that inspires strange urges to give it a hopeful lick in case it also tastes ice-creamy.

We'll have to get the first book now; which I can tell will be just as popular; having both 'Ooh la la's!' AND  a lot of cake in it.

'Lulu and the Treasure Hunt!' by Emma Chichester Clark, pub. Harper Collins isbn 978-0-00-742517-4

disclosure: We received our copy by kindness of the publisher. Our opinions are our own.

Fans of Emma Chichester Clark or of dogs or of blogs but especially of all three should be aware of the massive treat that is Plumdog Blog. I am very much hoping that this will become the next 'Secret Diary of an Edwardian Lady' craze and that one day I will be able to buy  not only a Plum Dog desk diary but a duvet cover and co-ordinating waste paper basket...Come ON publishers!

Upcoming Bookish Diary Dates

My days are as crammed with booky doings as the Fellow Reviewers' shelves are with the real things at the moment. The boys' school is launching their annual month-long Readathon next week which I have been helping co-ordinate. I'm proud to say we've rebranded it the Read-a-FUN! this year (do'ya see what we did there? do'ya?) to put the focus squarely on reading for enjoyment and to try and let the non-swots have a look in. Previous years have seen Super Swots dominate the prize gathering with lists of books read including 'Origin of the Species' and 'Mill on the Floss' (Yes. it IS a Primary School. yes they are all under 12).

To entice the ones picking their noses at the back, who know they cannot compete with such precocious tastes we're mixing it up a little this year. I've put in a new requirement to earn extra points by choosing at least one book preferred by/marketed at the opposite gender and also to read from as many different genres as possible including graphic novels.

We've got some extra competitions going including a 'Write a Totally Gripping first line' one, a 'Design a Brilliant Book Cover' one and an 'Extreme Reading Location Challenge'; where they have to photograph themselves reading in exciting places.

I'm looking forward to sorting through lots of photos of boys reading Jacqueline Wilson and girls reading Captain Underpants whilst hanging from monkey bars or sitting in trees. From overheard conversations there may be quite a few 'in the toilet' photos being planned too...ho ho.

I anticipate the graphic novel requirement is going to throw a lot of people and going to mean a lot of 'Tintin' and 'Asterix' (not that there's anything wrong with those) and not a lot else. I'm therefore going to try and put together a list of Primary-age-suitable graphic novel suggestions and get some to display in school. I put a request out on Twitter and got some great ideas. I'll stick the list up here when I've finished it too.

So next week it's our launch and tomorrow I will be busy sticking a 450 circle Bookworm up around the school. Every pupil, teacher and member of support staff has been given a coloured circle and asked to write their best book suggestion on it and then they're being combined into a wiggly Mega-beast. I'm really looking forward to seeing what they've all chosen and what are the number one most popular books in the school. I'm not really looking forward to the blu tac thumb I'll get.

I will also be busy (studies fingernails in casual fashion in preparation for name dropping) hangin' with our wonderful launch guests; Mackenzie Crook, Tony Gallagher; the editor of the Daily Telegraph AND the amazing illustrator Jane Ray! This is the jammiest jam of living in the particular creative-person-packed corner of London that we do.        

Our Read-a-fun ends on World Book Day, March 7th which is quite my most favourite school day when everyone comes dressed as their best book character.

But before then- do you remember International Book Giving Day from last year?  This much more inspiring way to enjoy February 14th than the yawn; usual romance, is back again this year and bigger than ever. You are encouraged to join in by passing on books whether new, used or borrowed to any children of your acquaintance or to any place where children have to hang around getting bored. It's such a great and simple idea and so worthwhile- do join in if you can.       

The website here has all the information you need.               

                  

And if you live anywhere in the London area and will be around for half term The Imagine Festival is on at the Southbank for the whole week which has so many literary treat goodies to choose from it's quite dizzy-making. Book things! Quick!!