The Boy in the Dress

I'd been meaning to read David Walliams ever since I saw that he had published a book back in 2008. I'd even bought this book and had it sitting on my bookshelves, waiting. Now he has published five books, with a sixth to be released this month.

Recently I read this article proclaiming David Walliams as the new Roald Dahl which pushed me over the edge and so I packed The Boy in the Dress in my bag on my recent trip to New Zealand. I was reading Lord of the Flies at the same time, but sometimes when you travel you need something lighter, and The Boy in the Dress was perfect travel fare, and a perfect antidote to Lord of the Flies.

I really enjoyed this gentle, yet funny tale of twelve year old Dennis Sims, living with his depressed, truck driver dad and his older brother.

"I've gotta go boys. I've gotta drive a load of bog rolls to Bradford."

Of course it had to be funny and quirky. Walliams initially came to international attention for his TV comedy show, Little Britain. I was slow to warm to Little Britain, but did end up loving it. There were some truly wonderful characters and moments.

Walliams uses gentle, beautiful British humour to tell this unusual story of a regular soccer playing lad, who feels he is different and likes to read Vogue. It is often laugh out loud funny. Dennis' school teachers are somewhat like those in Dahl's Matilda, but display nowhere near the malevolence of Trunchbull. There are many British references that aren't too distant for an Australian to comprehend- Neighbours, Trisha, soccer and Hob Nobs, and marvellous British words like unutterably, offy and innit.

The thrill of possessing the ball made Dennis forget his cold for a moment, and he weaved his way through the defence and approached the goal-keeper, a luxuriant-haired boy sporting a brand new kit, who was probably called Oscar or Tobias or something.

The comparisons between Walliams and Dahl are perhaps obvious, and certainly having his first two books illustrated by Quentin Blake- who famously illustrated many of Dahl's books- makes this link even more obvious. Walliams openly acknowledges his debt to Dahl, and also the genius of Dahl- he made a fascinating documentary about Dahl sensibly titled The Genius of Dahl (happily all three parts are on youtube, watch them all, it's incredible)- which draws great links between Dahl's early learning of Norwegian fairy tales and the stories he would come to write. It's an amazing video- full of delicious details of his life- he wrote in the morning, and would bet on the horses of an afternoon. I also didn't know Dahl wrote the screenplay for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and invented the Childcatcher that wasn't in the book- but it does make sense when you know. Even more incredibly, Roald Dahl was part of a team who developed a cerebral shunt.

Perhaps David Walliams is a natural successor to Roald Dahl, even if he's not I certainly look forward to reading more from both of them.

Paris Parking

Mercifully, I've never driven in Paris. I have helped navigate a car through Paris though, both before GPS and with the use of a GPS- frightening enough of itself. So I've never had to park a car in Paris, but have admired many solutions to the never ending problem of where to park.

I have no idea how they get in or out

Sometimes a crowd gathers to watch/help 

You just have to park where you can 

At least you don't have to worry about the bollards

And corners are a great place to park

Dreaming of France is a wonderful Monday meme
from Paulita at An Accidental Blog

NYPL 100 Great Childrens Books

I do love a list. And a new list is even more fun. This week the New York Public Library released a list   of the top 100 childrens books of the last century. It's an impressively practical list- the books had to be in print and still readily available, and have an enduring popularity at the New York Public Library branches. 


As with any list, there are some I've read, some I've wanted to read for some time, and some that I've never heard of but do sound fabulous.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day Judith Viorst, illustrated by Ray Cruz (1972)

All-of-a-Kind Family Sydney Taylor, illustrated by Helen John (1951) 

Amelia Bedelia Peggy Parish, illustrated by Fritz Siebel (1963)

The Arrival Shaun Tan (2007) (see my review)

Bark, George Jules Feiffer (1999)

Because of Winn-Dixie Kate DiCamillo (2000)

Ben’s Trumpet Rachel Isadora (1979)

Big Red Lollipop Rukhsana Khan, illustrated by Sophie Blackall (2010) 

The Birchbark House  Louise Erdrich (1999)

The Book of Three Lloyd Alexander (1964)

The Borrowers Mary Norton, illustrated by Beth Krush and Joe Krush (1953)

The Bossy Gallito/El Gallo De Bodas: A Traditional Cuban Folktale Lucía M. González, illustrated by Lulu Delacre (1994)

Bread and Jam for Frances Russell Hoban, illustrated by Lillian Hoban (1964)

Bridge to Terabithia Katherine Paterson (1977) 

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Bill Martin, Jr., illustrated by Eric Carle (1967)

Caps for Sale Esphyr Slobodkina (1938)

The Cat in the Hat Dr. Seuss (1957)

Chains Laurie Halse Anderson (2008)

A Chair For My Mother Vera B. Williams (1982) 

Charlotte’s Web E.B. White, illustrated by Garth Williams (1952)

Chato’s Kitchen Gary Soto, illustrated by Susan Guevara (1995)

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Bill Martin, Jr., and John Archambault; illustrated by Lois Ehlert (1989)

Corduroy Don Freeman (1976)

Curious George H.A. Rey (1941)

D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths Ingri D’Aulaire and Edgar Parin D’Aulaire (1962)

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! Mo Willems (2003)

Esperanza Rising Pam Muñoz Ryan (2000)

Freight Train Donald Crews (1978)

Frog and Toad Are Friends Arnold Lobel (1970)

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler E.L. Konigsburg (1967) (see my review)

George and Martha James Marshall (1972)

The Giver Lois Lowry (1993) (see my review)

Go, Dog. Go! P.D. Eastman (1961)

Goodnight Moon Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Clement Hurd (1947)

Grandfather’s Journey Allen Say (1993)

The Graveyard Book Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Dave McKean (2008) (see my review)

Green Eggs and Ham Dr. Seuss (1960)

Harold and the Purple Crayon Crockett Johnson (1955)

Harriet the Spy Louise Fitzhugh (1964) (see my review)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone J.K. Rowling (1998)

Hatchet Gary Paulsen (1989) (see my review)

The Hobbit J.R.R. Tolkien (1937)

Holes Louis Sachar (1998) (see my review)

The Invention of Hugo Cabret Brian Selznick (2007) (see my review)

Joseph Had a Little Overcoat Simms Taback (1999)

Jumanji Chris Van Allsburg (1981)

Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Book Yuyi Morales (2003)

Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse Kevin Henkes (1996) 

The Lion and the Mouse Jerry Pinkney (2009)

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe C.S. Lewis (1950)

The Little HouseVirginia Lee Burton (1942)

The Little Prince Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1943)

Locomotion Jacqueline Woodson (2003)

Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story From China Ed Young (1989)

Madeline Ludwig Bemelmans (1939)

Make Way for Ducklings  Robert McCloskey (1941)

Matilda  Roald Dahl, illustrated by Quentin Blake (1988)

Meet Danitra Brown  Nikki Grimes, illustrated by Floyd Cooper (1994)

Millions of Cats Wanda Gág (1928) 

Miss Nelson is Missing! Harry Allard, illustrated by James Marshall (1977)

Mr. Popper's Penguins Richard and Florence Atwater; illustrated by Robert Lawson (1938) (see my review)

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH Robert C. O’Brien (1971)

Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale John Steptoe (1987)

My Father’s Dragon Ruth Stiles Gannett, illustrated by Ruth Chrisman Gannett (1948)

My Name is Yoon Helen Recorvits, illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska (2003)

Olivia Ian Falconer (2000)

One Crazy Summer Rita Williams-Garcia (2010)

The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales Virginia Hamilton, illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon (1985)

The Phantom Tollbooth Norton Juster, illustrated by Jules Feiffer (1961)

Pierre: A Cautionary Tale in Five Chapters and a Prologue Maurice Sendak (1962)

Pink and Say Patricia Polacco (1994)

Pippi Longstocking Astrid Lindgren (1950)

Ramona the Pest Beverly Cleary (1968)

Rickshaw Girl Mitali Perkins, illustrated by Jamie Hogan (2007)

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Mildred D. Taylor (1976) (see my review)

Rumpelstiltskin Paul O. Zelinsky (1986)

A Sick Day for Amos MCGee Philip Stead, illustrated by Erin E. Stead (2010) 

The Snowy Day  Ezra Jack Keats (1962)

Starry River of the Sky Grace Lin (2012)

The Stories Julian Tells Ann Cameron, illustrated by Ann Strugnell (1981)

The Story of Ferdinand Munro Leaf, illustrated by Robert Lawson (1936)

Strega Nona Tomie dePaola (1975)

Swimmy Leo Lionni (1963)

Sylvester and the Magic PebbleWilliam Steig (1969)

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing  Judy Blume (1972)

The Tales of Uncle Remus: The Adventures of Brer Rabbit Julius Lester, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney (1987)

Tar Beach Faith Ringgold (1991) 

Ten, Nine, Eight Molly Bang (1983)

Tomie dePaola’s Mother Goose Tomie dePaola (1985)

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Lane Smith (1989)

Tuesday David Wiesner (1991)

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eric Carle (1969)

The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 Christopher Paul Curtis (1995)

The Westing Game Ellen Raskin (1978)

When You Reach Me  Rebecca Stead (2009) 

Where Is the Green Sheep? Mem Fox, illustrated by Judy Horacek (2004)

Where the Wild Things Are Maurice Sendak (1963) 

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears Verna Aardema, illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon (1975)

Winnie-the-Pooh A.A. Milne, illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard (1926)

A Wrinkle in Time Madeleine L’Engle (1962) (see my review)

43/100. Not bad. For a start.  

November 2014. 47/100


June 2016 50/100

Spring 2013

We've had an amazing beautiful spring in Australia this year. My magnolia stick bloomed for the first time! Two flowers, that counts as blooms, right?

It's barely grown since I planted it, but this gives me hope

One year I'll be able to look out my kitchen window and see something like this....

Robertson Park was a vertiable sea of blossoms this year.

These photos were a few weeks ago now. The best of the blossoms have sadly now gone, although this week my irises are out, and I saw lots of wisteria in bloom on my walk today. 

Saturday Snapshot is a wonderful weekly meme now hosted by WestMetroMommy

Haute Couture

I had a Sensational trip to Paris in June and July of this year. We did so many amazing things. All sorts of different things, sightseeing, eating, concerts- as there is just so much to do in Paris on any given day. One of the great things we did was take in the free fashion retrospective, Paris Haute Couture at the Paris Town Hall (Mairie de Paris). It was great. 

And it was free!

Any excuse to visit the Town Hall is worth it 

It's an amazing building,
we'd walked past many times but this was our first venture inside
there are usually several exhibitions on there at any time

Sadly photos were interdit
so most of my photos are terrible
but the frocks were sensational

Fashion isn't really my thing, but the exhibition often paired a vintage piece with a newer frock, to show design elements over time. It was a celebration of design and craftmanship. And cleverly done. 

The ladies were well fascinated
and thoroughly enjoyed it

The boys amused themselves with a new game
Dr Who or Eurovision
(deciding if each piece would be better suited to be worn for Dr Who or Eurovision)

Dreaming of France is a wonderful Monday meme
from Paulita at An Accidental Blog

Dutch Breakfast

I've been taking quite an interest in the sugar debate this year. I read Sweet Poison, and I Quit Sugar, still I was more than astonished to learn last week that Holland may be the first country to criminalise sugar.

I thought back to our lovely, but too brief visit to Holland in June. We stayed with friends and got to participate in the ritual of a Dutch family breakfast. These people love their sugar! I do wonder if it's just one man's plan? I'm not sure that I can see it catching on.

Master Wicker learning about the joys of travel broadening tastebuds,
 and the magic of vlokken

They have a literal wall of vlokken
at the supermarket

The Dutch make an astonishing sugar bread (Suykerbrood). Basically like a brioche with lumps of sugar.

So delicious!
Great sliced with butter

But even better toasted!
It was funny to go to Holland and learn that toasting
 is a rather Australian preoccupation

This post is linked to Weekend Cooking, 

a fabulous weekly meme at Beth Fish Reads

Kuirau Park

This week I spent a few days in Rotorua, New Zealand. I was at a conference and my sightseeing time was limited, but was able to walk around town one afternoon. Kuirau Park is on the edge of town and offers a fascinating glimpse of the areas geothermal activity, especially if you're not able to get to one of the major tourist areas out of town. It's a council park, so it's free.

My first glimpse was of gorgeous NZ green.

A green you don't often see in Australia

Soon you realise that there's lots of fenced off areas.

 The larger ones have gates and you can walk around inside

Often the view is a bizarre contrast between sulphurous primeval ooze
 and traditional English garden

The pukekos didn't seem to mind the smell too much

Some of the smaller areas you just peer over the fence. Each one was slightly different. It makes you look at the world differently. We tend to look out at our landscape and see stability, rocks, a view that doesn't really change from one day to the next, from one decade to the next. But Rotorua gives you a glimpse of the instability that lies just below the surface. I saw a sign that said Rotorua has an earthquake a day (but Richter 2 and so not felt by us). My taxi driver snorted at that, and said they had more like 30 a day. He was happy about that as the pressure is being released.

This pool was amazing the water was very clear like in a limestone cave
It photographed like a mirror though

Bubbling mud

All over town steam or bubbling water would come up between rocks

More bubbling mud

There's a large lake in the middle of the park. That bridge was minutes away from all the wisteria opening when I saw it. A few of the flowers were out on the other side. The tulips were out all around the lake and very pretty, but there was a busload of Chinese tourists in front of, or in, every stand of tulips.

There are a couple of warm foot baths in the park too, so you can soak your feet for a while in the warm waters.

 The largest geothermal area is up near the corner of Lake Road and Ranolf Street. It's extraordinary.

Cement horse troughs from the early twentieth century
In use til the 1940s
dogs drank from the lower section

It was very eerie walking through this one
the wind constantly shifting the view

The steam was actually quite warm, and fogged up my glasses a few times

I saw a lot of this orange ?lichen near sulphurous areas

Rotorua was an amazing place to visit. There are heaps of activities I would have liked to have tried. I'll have to put it on the list to go back sometime.

Saturday Snapshot is a wonderful weekly meme now hosted by WestMetroMommy