Mechanica

I'd heard a little bit about Mechanica, enough to be intrigued. The cover is entrancing. I knew it was a picture book but for older kids, so I ordered a copy and sent it to a nephew, and then used some of my time during the Christmas break to read it.

The copy I'd seen didn't have the subtitle a beginner's field guide, otherwise I might have been expecting a field guide format, instead of a more straight forward narrative. Mechanica has a great concept. It is the 23rd century. The worlds environment has been destroyed by our own stupidity and Mechanica have been created by man- robotic life-forms created by humans to replace extinct species- butterflies, bats, birds, snakes, spiders, bees. The illustrations are beautiful and totally cool. 

Mechanics were originally displayed in zoos and small sanctuaries for public enjoyment, but soon they began to escape their enclosures and cross-breed with damaged drones. As a child Liberty Crisp saw one of the last butterflies in existence, she was to become fascinated by Mechanica.

Mechanica is a field guide from the future. There will be lots more to come from the very imaginative Lance Balchin. A second picture book called Aquatica will be published in March, and a series of novels- The Mechanica Chronicles, detailing the voyages of Liberty Crisp on her ship the HMS Beagle is on the way. It will be a fascinating journey.

There is a great Mechanica website giving a glimpse of how Lance Balchin creates his amazing illustrations. Be sure to watch the videos.

Betterreading have a fascinating interview with Lance where he talks about his many inspirations.

The Brilliant World of Tom Gates

I wasn't planning to read this book this week, but sometimes books just require to be read. I used the opportunity of a brief stay with family to read my nephew's copy of The Brilliant World of Tom Gates.

Tom Gates is a normal boy. He lives with his parents and his annoying older sister, Delia. He is in Year 5 at Oakfield School. Tom is usually late for school, and always likes to blame Delia. He likes to sit up the back of the class and doodle. He doesn't enjoy doing homework, there's just too much other stuff going on for him- playing with his friends, rehearsing with his band Dog Zombies and eating caramel wafers.

Told in illustrated diary format The Brilliant World of Tom Gates is full of stuff that is life for primary school aged children. The foibles of teachers and principals. Spelling tests. Homework. An excursion to the British Museum. All while trying to balance the competing demands of family, having fun and working out the best way to annoy your sister.

The Brilliant World of Tom Gates is a fun, funny, illustrated junior fiction book- one of the many fabulous recent books to help keep (mainly) boys reading. No it doesn't really tackle any big issues- apart from that old gem- hobnobs or caramel wafers? I've had many a hobnob in my time but never a caramel wafer. I can feel a taste test coming on....

And in rather typical style for me the Very Day After I read The Brilliant World of Tom Gates in part because it won The Roald Dahl Funny Prize in 2011, Michael Rosen announces that The Roald Dahl Funny Prize is no more. It is an ex-parrot. I did think it was odd to read yesterday that the prize was "on pause" until 2016 when it would be reintroduced for the centenary of Dahl celebrations.

Today The Guardian have made a quiz  based on The Roald Dahl Funny Prize. And a #thisbookisfunny hashtag has been created.

### Excellent news! Michael Rosen and Scholastic have announced a new prize for funny books. The Laugh Out Loud Book Awards. The Lollies Shortlist will be announced 11 February 2016, with the winners announcement on 4 July 2016.

P.S. Enquiring minds had to know. Caramel wafers have been trialled at the Wicker household. Master Wicker was very taken with them. I would rather a Hobnob- oh, that's not a bad idea...

Demon Dentist

I recently used a short break in Sydney to read the last of David Walliams' books that I hadn't read previously. This of course puts him (and me) in a rather enviable position- I've now read all of David Walliams' published books for children- well the novel length ones, I do have a few picture books to go still and there will be a new book again in September 2015, but this time I'm ready for it.

Demon Dentist was published in 2013, around the time that I started reading his work. It's certainly no wonder that he is phenomenally successful and wildly popular with kids- his books are fun, and a bit naughty and clever, and I think it is right that he is the most likely successor to Roald Dahl that we have writing today.

Poor 12 year old Alfie Griffith has terrible teeth.

Alfie hated going to the dentist. As a result the boy's teeth were almost all yellow. The ones that weren't yellow were brown. They bore the stains of all the goodies that children love, but dentists hate. Sweets, fizzy drinks, chocolate. The teeth that were neither yellow nor brown simply weren't there any more. They had fallen out. One had bitten into a toffee and stayed there. Assorted fruit-flavoured chews had claimed others. 

Alfie lives with his father who is very unwell as a result of his work as a coal miner.

A great big bear of a man, he had loved working down the pit and providing for his beloved son. However, all those years he spend down the mine took a terrible toll on his lungs.

Alfie's Dad is confined to a wheelchair, and can no longer work. Alfie acts as a carer for his father, and they get by on very little money. So when a do-gooder social worker turns up intent on getting Alfie to the dentist and on eating every chocolate biscuit in the house there was always going to be trouble.

Demon Dentist is probably the most scary of David Walliams' books. So scary it even comes with a warning.

It is also perhaps his most plot driven book- it gets pretty exciting towards the end. All of David Walliams books have a warm heart, but are never preachy. Here he shows us that you can find happiness after sadness, and seamlessly incorporates multiracial characters to represent a modern Britain/world.

Demon Dentist plays on the widespread fear of dentists- who doesn't hate going to the dentist? Kids growing up now do fare much better, but the concept of pain free dentistry certainly didn't exist when I was a kid, and I think for most adults a trip to the dentist is at least a drudge, if not downright terrifying. Children of course like to eat lollies and other sugary things that are not good for their teeth, and tooth decay is still a very modern problem. Of course it is all dealt with in traditional Walliams style with fart jokes and teachers underwear on display.

"But tooth fairies aren't real..." protested the boy.
The witch smiled. "Oh yes, they are. Annoying little do-gooders flapping all over the place."

Check out my David Walliams link to read my other reviews and ponderings. Billionaire Boy is still my favourite.

Ratburger

I travelled away to a conference recently and Ratburger was one of the books that I took with me. One of 6. I took six (actual books) away with me for a 5 night trip. Slightly excessive perhaps. But I did get through three of them and it's important not to run out, and have a bit of a choice. I'd taken my first Walliams title with me on my last conference trip in September last year (The Boy in the Dress), and it was such perfect travel reading that I took another one this time.

Ratburger is my fourth Walliams read, and his fifth published book- oh no I'm out of sequence again! It's probably the one where I found the cover least appealing. Rats and creepy looking guys don't appeal that much to middle aged women I guess. I should have known better and trusted him. Ratburger is I think the most gruesome Walliams book that I've read so far. There are many, many references to flobbing- a new word for me, but clearly British slang for spitting, from the back cover on it's ever present.

Our hero here is Zoe, 12 years old, who lives with her father and stepmother. Her dad has succumbed to overwhelming grief after the death of Zoe's mother,

Dad used to give her the best cuddles, but after Mum died he had retreated to the back of his eyes, and never came out any more. 

and he now essentially lives at the local pub, which leaves Zoe trapped at home with her evil, fat, prawn cocktail crisp eating stepmother, Sheila. A true evil stepmother if ever there was one.

Zoe's family is poor, living in a high-rise council estate. She is rather miserable at home, and is bullied at school.

Zoe didn't have many friends at school. What's more, the other kids bullied her for being short and ginger and having to wear braces on her teeth.

When her beloved pet hamster, Gingernut, dies she is quite bereft. Until she finds a young rat, who she names after a toilet, and an extraordinary sequence of events follow.

Ratburger is the grossest Walliams I've read so far. He creates a perfect villain- gross, nasty and mean. And there are perfectly Dahlesque teachers like Miss Midge.

Miss Midge would refuse to teach anything but the most grisly passage of history: beheadings, flogging, burning at the stake. The teacher would grin and bare her crocodile teeth at the mention of anything cruel and brutal and barbaric. 

Ultimately, though Ratburger is about holding onto your dreams. I read a quote recently that children's books should always leave the reader with a sense of optimism or hope, which may or may not be true, and which I can't find the original for the life of me, but Walliams seems to be doing that with all of his books, but with suitable amounts of gore and humour along the way. I'm going to run out of his books soon!

I think I love David Walliams' books

as much as these kids do

Mr Stink

My love affair with David Walliams rolls on. Mr Stink is the third book by Walliams that I've read in the last few months. I finally got to reading his first book The Boy in the Dress in October last year, and then Billionaire Boy as a Christmas treat. I've had some idle moments this month and so picked up Mr Stink on a whim spurred on by the fact that the tv version was played here recently and I'd taped it and knew it was waiting on the hard drive for me, and I'd come to notice that many of my reads this month have yellow covers.

Mr Stink is perfect Walliams. Chloe Crumb is 12 years old. Everyday as she is shepherded to her "posh private school" she sees a homeless man sitting on the same bench with his little dog. She is intrigued by him. Mr Stink has appeared in town suddenly and taken up residence with his little black dog, who also smells.

No one knew where he had come from, or where he might be going. The town folk were mostly nice to him. They sometimes dropped a few coins at his feet, before rushing off with their eyes watering. But no one was really friendly towards him. No one stopped for a chat. 

But Chloe is curious. She lives in a "boring little town where nothing happened that hadn't happened the day before."

She was only twelve and she had never spoken to a tramp before. Her mother had forbidden her to speak to 'such creatures'. Mother even disapproved of her daughter talking to kids from the local council estate. But Chloe didn't think Mr Stink was a creature. She thought he was a man who looked like he had a very interesting story to tell- and if there was one thing Chloe loved, it was stories.

Of course Mr Stink does have a story to tell. And so does David Walliams, he does it with his trademark intelligence and humour.  The highlight of which is again a list (similar to those in Billionaire Boy) of the nonstop and rather nonsensical extracurricular activities undertaken by Chloe's over achieving sister Annabelle in a typical week.

Thursday
2am Learning Arabic
3am Dance lesson, break-dance, hip- hop, krumping
4am Oboe lesson
5am Tour de France cycle training
6am Bible studies
7am Gymnastics training
8am Calligraphy class
9am to 4pm School
4pm Work experience shadowing a brain surgeon
5pm Opera singing lesson
6pm NASA space exploration workshop
7pm Cake baking class, level 5
8pm Attend lecture on 'A History of Victorian Moustaches'

And in a beautiful moment of synchronicity I learnt what krumping was this week. I'd never heard of it before. And here it is again. I'm not certain that my life has been enriched. Is all knowledge enriching?

Mr Stink is David Walliams' second book for children. In his thank you at the beginning of the book he thanks his readers.

Finally I would also like to thank all the people who wrote to me to say they enjoyed my first book, The Boy in the Dress, particularly the children. It is very touching when someone takes the time to write a letter, and greatly encouraged me when working on Mr Stink. I hope it doesn't disappoint. 

It certainly didn't.

There is a sweet tele movie version of Mr Stink, with David Walliams appearing as the Prime Minister. It was on tele before Christmas and Master Wicker and I got to watching it this week. Rather enjoyable- but the book was better (of course).