When you need a right laugh

So I've pulled out one of the last of my get out of jail free cards tonight. But only because the book I've been reading all week has had to be put down. I would need more time to give it the love and attention it truly deserves, which sadly this week I simply don't have.
It's the summer holidays for me but the jobs have not stopped. Neither has the social life. Between the two and my normal day to day responsibilities I got to today, feeling pressured by deadlines and wanting to cry.
All week I have felt like one clear message was given to me regarding this blog and reading. "You can't do it. It can not be done."
So in desperation I have turned to a book that always manages to make me smile when I feel like the world is getting to me.

Dave is a picture book written by Sue Hendra and illustrated by the brilliant Liz Pichon (creator of the Tom Gates book series). It tells the story of Dave, the greedy cat who gets stuck in his cat flap one day due to his ''obesity" issues. 

His animal friends try to help him out but to no avail. Until someone comes up with an unusual plan which involves feeding Dave even more. 

It is 32 pages which consist predominantly of a build up to a purile joke. One of quite epic gaseous proportions! But funnier still is the fact that after all his troubles, Dave simply hasn't learned a thing! 

The pages aren't full of lengthy text. There's no more than 2 or 3 lines per page. The vocabulary isn't taxing but there is an occasional gem of a word dropped in. 

 The illustrations are bright and vividly coloured.  And there isn't a person I've shown it to who hasn't laughed out loud at the pay off joke. 

It was recently awarded the picture book world cup at the school I work in where the class I worked with voted for it time and again over other books. 

It just goes to show some times a simple fart joke can take you very far! 

Well done Dave, you're my funny book and my proof that I can and will succeed at doing this blog for the full year. And as next week's blog will suggest, from this low point I will rise! 

Book 30 of my 52 book list and my funny book. 

Book Title: Dave 

Author: Sue Hendra

 Illustrator: Liz Pichon 

Pages: 32 

Published: 2009 

Suitable for: aged 3 and up

Interesting words: fantastic, sniggered, embarrassing

A Ray of Light

This book has been sitting on my shelves for a while now, one of those that I've been meaning to read simply because the fuss about it has been so great. It's author, Lisa Thompson published her first book 'The Goldfish Boy' last year. Despite the furore that surrounded it I tried the book and simply couldn't get into it.

But I was determined to give her a chance as people all around me were saying how great the story was. When her second book 'The Light Jar' was released the fuss was even bigger. I got it in a deal in my local Tesco and put it on my 'to read' pile and there it stayed. 

I gave it a chance just two or three days ago. Having finished it today, I can say that I see why people around me were raving about it. The story has a much stronger start, with central character Nathaniel escaping in the middle of the night with his mum Fiona. They hole up in an abandoned cottage that mum managed to get access to. 

They start to make a home there in the following 24 hours, but when mum goes out for shopping and doesn't return, Nate is left to fend for himself. Cue the return of his imaginary friend Sam from his toddler years and the sudden appearance of the mysterious Kitty, who is on a mission to complete a treasure hunt started out by her friend Charlotte, who was unable to finish it herself. 

Nate is left to cope on his own, whilst helping Kitty and working with Sam to try and reason out where Mum could possibly be. All the while he is running from the possible reality that Mum could've been caught by the very monster of a man she and Nate were running from. 

As Nate's story unfolds we are made to feel the very pain of what it would've been like to live in an oppressive environment. The characters are real, not overly dramatic or lazily done. The plot is fairly straightforward, with a couple of twists and turns but ultimately I guessed several major plot points well before they were revealed. I felt far too clever for my own good! 

The human drama element of it was the big hook for me. Mum's relationship with the frightening Gary, Kitty's tragic family history, Nate's companionship with Sam: it is all painted with a vivid brush that makes you feel and see it's colour. 

There are no ludicrously difficult words but the sentences are well constructed. It's near 300 pages don't feel like too much of a tax on your time. If you're anything like me you get through it quite quickly as the flow is so smooth. There are no real throwaway lines in the book at all. It  does pack a couple of chilling moments though so I don't know if I would recommend it to children below the age of 8. 

I'm already looking forward to reading it again to my son, who I know has been enjoying it so far as much as I have. Such a shame that I had to jump ahead and read the entire thing to myself first! I'm kind of sorry/not sorry! 

A book written by a female author, this is book number 29 on my list and proof that you should always give things a second chance.

Book Title: The Light Jar
Author: Lisa Thompson
Published: 2018
Pages: 293
Suitable for: children from 8 or 9 upwards
Interesting words: quaint, huddled, baffled, scrunched.

A thirst for general knowledge

What do you get when you combine a week of not reading, a quick trip to the library and a need to read a book about science? Quite simply, this week's book.

My non fiction topics for this challenge are in themselves a challenge, but as luck would have it my local library had this standing out on what of the shelves. I'll be honest, having picked it only yesterday I looked at it as an easy read. Something I could get through quickly. I got a bit more than a bargained for as it was a lot more wordy than I first thought it would be.

This book quite simply attempts to answer some of the scientific questions that children from time to time might ask. Questions such as 'why are there holes in parachutes?' and 'what time is it at the north pole?' and my personal favourite 'why is poo brown and pee yellow?' I'm not sure I wanted to know the answer to that one but I do know it now!

Each question and answer takes up an a4 spread (so two joined a4 pages) allowing for a nice background illustration. The facts and information are boxed up neatly to allow you to read snippets that you choose rather than having to read an entire answer at once. Did you know for instance that the dead outnumber the living ten to one???

The questions are grouped into 6 strands which cover things like plants and animals, the earth and space, movement, human biology etc. The sections are clearly set out and the contents page lists every question just in case you wanted to look for a particular one.

The illustrations in it are beautiful and the text, whilst quite heavy doesn't tax you to the point where you feel you're being lectured which is great. It has 122 pages with a lovely detailed glossary at the very back. It's not one for young children, it might simply be too much for them. Instead I'd suggest it would be better suited to children above the age of 8, maybe those who are already showing a keen interest in the sciences.

I'd highly recommend this for anyone with a thirst for general scientific knowledge. A quick and relatively easy read and book number 28 of my list. My book about science.

Book Title: What Came Before the Big Bang?

Author: Simon Hillard

Illustrator: Tim Bradford

Pages: 128

First published: 2016

Suitable for:  children aged 8 and up.

Interesting words: microscopic, orbit, aerodynamic, decompose

A Time for Dreams

Another whirlwind week has gone by and this one was capped by a weekend that left my head full of day dreams. Maybe it was the overly romantic musical I'd gone to see at the cinema on Friday. Maybe it was the glowing prospects for my future that I envisiged yesterday. I don't know in all honesty.

If you go back to my earlier blog posts you might read one about a lovely little book called 'Sarah's Shadow'.  I wrote my blog piece and more through luck than anything the author of the book got hold of it. Yesterday saw the culmination of our efforts result in a gorgeous little story time session at a cafe/ independent bookstore. The owner of which was a charming man with some  great ideas.

I can boast that I came out of there on a cloud, my head spinning with future plans and opportunities for further collaborations. I was practically giddy for most of yesterday afternoon! So whilst most people were celebrating England's historic quarter final win, I was overwhelmed and selfishly celebrating the start of a beautiful working partnership which hasn't even really begun yet!

Back to reality today and no book had been read as of this morning. To be fair to me I have been reading this week, it's just that I've deviated away from children's books. I fancied a nice grown up read this week.

Anywho, I've been saving this little ace for a little while now. Having read it about an hour ago I'm confident that it is soaked into the brain well enough and frankly, the title fits with the whole theme of dreams this week so it'll more than suffice!

Time now to Dream is a book by Timothy Knapman which has been illustrated by the amazing Helen Oxenbury (We're Going on a Bear Hunt). It's about two children, Jack and Alice who are out playing one day when some strange sounds and half words echo through the forest; persuading them both to go in and have a peak at what's making the noise.

All through the story Jack has reservations, he's scared the noises could possibly be the wicked wolf, but when they find the source of the echo they are totally surprised. I'll say no more for the risk of spoiling the plot but I found it was lovely. Ideal to read as a bedtime story to a 3 or 4 year old.

At 32 pages with most pages only containing a sentence or two it's not exactly a chore to read. What stands it out are the illustrations. One particular full page illustration just took my breath away!

There's no real variety of vocabulary but that doesn't detract from the simple charm of the story.

So now we come to the reason it's on the list in the first place. About a year or so ago I entered an online competition to win this book. I just entered it on a whim, one of those simple 'like and repost' things where I didn't think I stood a cat in hell's chance of winning (is that the correct phrase? Cat in hell).

I won, getting a free copy of the book as my prize. I kept it at my work place for months and months, but never bothered picking it up to read once. The theme of it just didn't seem to fit anything I was working with or on. The children never looked at it either sadly and I can hold my hand up and say that the fault there was mine. I should've done more to promote it.

When I left my job to move on to another the book came with me. After all, it was mine, I'd won it and the fact that I'd won it made an interesting story in it's own right. It has been sitting neglected on my shelves for several more months now, waiting for the time when I would finally sit down, pick it up and read it.

I have now and the timing couldn't be better, as my head is so full of big dreams now that I'm struggling to keep them all in!

Now it's time to do the book the justice it deserves and to see it read by others. Maybe not in the same way that I managed with 'Sarah's Shadow' but at least by promoting it and getting children to hear it being read.

In the meantime I'll keep dreaming, right now it feels so much better to have a head full of aspirations as opposed to memories!

Book 27 and a book that I own but haven't read.

Book Title: Time Now to Dream
Author: Timothy Knapman
Illustrator: Helen Oxenbury
Published: 2016
Pages:32
Suitable for: children aged 2-6
Interesting words: snuggled, lullaby, wicked

There and Back Again: a reader's tale

Last week something unexpected happened. I arrived home from work and was possessed of a sudden urge to watch the Lord of the Rings films. Not just a small want, but a serious need to indulge in the adventures of Middle Earth.
My husband (who bless him is quite used to my spontaneous flights of fancy) looked up from his paper at my third rant of 'I really wanna watch Lord of the Rings' and simply answered 'don't you have the films on dvd?'
I didn't and that was a huge problem. So great was my need to lose myself in a world of hobbits and wizards and the like that I picked up this.

This is the exact cover of the version that has been sitting in my bedroom for over 10 years, since my father - in - law had lent it to me (borrower? lender? I always get them confused)!

It is an edition from 1971 which cost at the time no more than 60 pence. How I wish books were still that price in the shops! My house would be overflowing!

Come the Saturday morning I rushed out to the nearest charity shop and managed to get all three films for a pound each. Then I could wallow in stories of rings and dragons to my heart's content.

The book was a little harder to venture through, but not as hard as the first time I'd tried it (which was 10 years ago). Older and a little more patient, I quickly became accustomed to the writing style which is very well spoken and on occasion a little superfluous.

Originally published in 1937 it attempts to be conversational, but to me it had more of a feel of being told a bedtime story. There was more than one moment where I'd simply doze off while reading it!
It is a beautiful story and an excellent opener for it's successor 'The Lord of the Rings' though when it was first published it was meant as a stand alone book.

The action is well spilt with periods of restfulness. The theme of greed and it's destructive force rings throughout the story. In fact the very heroes at the start of the story wind up becoming the villians towards the end.

It centres around quiet, mild mannered Bilbo Baggins, a Hobbit who enjoys a life of relative boredom and inaction. Until one day the Wizard Gandalf shows up at his door and invites him to join on a quest with himself and 13 dwarves. Their quest is to reclaim the treasure stolen from the Dwarves' leader Thorin. The theif? A terrible dragon named Smaug who has destroyed the area around the treasure, laid waste to towns full of people and dwarf alike and who sleeps inside of a mountain where the treasure lays in wait.

They give poor Bilbo the task of trying to steal it, but things in the end get turned on their head when the unassuming hobbit goes from burden to carrier of the group, picking up a mystical ring on the journey, but we won't go into that now. That story is for another post.

It is a charming little story with a bitter sweet ending. One that had me thinking 'ahhh bless them'. At 278 pages it was a lot less daunting than I thought it would be. Guess you should never judge a book by it's cover!

I'm halfway through my yearly blog journey! I can't believe it!

This is book 26 of my 52 book list and my book that was published in the 20th century.

To the next 6 months!!!!

Book Title: The Hobbit
Author: J.R.R Tolkien
First published: 1927
Pages: 278
Suitable for: children aged about 12 upwards (not for content but for language-mature younger readers might also enjoy it)
Interesting words: weary, perilous, crevice, aimlessly, esteemed (and there's loads more!)