Dirty Beasts - Roald Dahl

Presently,it's all about Roald Dahl in Junior's world. It started with The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me and The Fantastic Fox. The collection is steadily building up.

The lastest entry is Dirty Beasts.

  The description on the back cover says

" Roald Dahl has created a ghastly assortment of wicked beasts getting up to some extra ordinary and unmentionable things in this comic collection of verse. Meet the clever pig with a plan to save his bacon, the scorpion who likes to sting, the giant toad who can jump from England to France, and lots more."

My personal experience:

We had not read any of Roald Dahl's poems before. We were very excited. At bedtime, Junior and I took turns to read them aloud. We were rolling with laughter. The excellent illustration by Quentin Blake made the situations more comical.

 Suggestions : 

I would recommend it for children( 7 years +) who have read Roald Dahl books earlier and are familiar with his style and  humor.

Excellent  for parent-child bonding actvity. Please read it aloud along with your children. The stories though dark, are clever, fast paced and full of action. You might find your little ones giggling and squirming with disgust at the same time.( Some kids may not like the idea of an ant eater eating humans or crocodiles having boys and girls for lunch. But most 7 year olds I guess enjoy the yucky stuff :) ).

The poems are lengthy, vary from 2 to 4 pages ( except The Lion). There  are some sentences, which require careful handling and parental guidance. For instance, in The Cow,the reference to the man from Afganistan as horrid and cow dropping cow pat on his head. Also,The Scorpion, maynot be a good choice for bed time reading. It could be nightmare inducing.

All said and done, inspite of people being eaten and stinging scorpions, it's a must read. Funny,  nonsenscical, engaging....

Oh yes, it might encourage your kid to try writing some funny verse too. Junior got creative and wrote his nonsensical piece :

The lion came out of his lair

To eat a pear.

Is it fair ?

Are you sure, it is not a hare ?

A vegetarian tiger ! it's a night mare.

Such rumours are flying in the air.

 Next the lion wanted to cut his hair.

He went and sat on the barber's chair.

The other customers in the shop got a scare.

They ran as fast as a hare.

The barber shouted " Get up from the chair !"

The sad lion went back to his lair.

 
Image courtesy : http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/91zVXZSIurL._SL1500_.jpg

 

Room on the Broom

Forget the old ,wicked witches from Hansel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. Welcome the friendly, kind hearted witch from Room on the Broom.
One day, while the good natured witch and her cat are flying through the night they are hit by gusty winds. The scatty witch keeps losing most of her possessions -her hat, bow and wand.  She meets various animals - a dog, a parrot and a frog who help her find her lost things. In return, they ask for a spot on her broomstick which she willingly agrees to give.

However, the broom soon breaks under the weight of its passengers and disaster strikes !!The witch is at the risk of becoming dinner for a fire spitting dragon....

This fun picture book is a great 'Read Aloud!' for the little ones. It has  rhythm and repetition. The Early Readers ( 4 to 7 years)  will enjoy reading it too.The clever use of words, help add new words and their usage to their growing vocabulary.

It's excellent for a group reading activity as well. Each member can pretend to be one of the characters and modulate his voice and add expression while he reads his part. Expect lots of croaks and woofs and purrs.... :)

Interesting use of words to describe the characters and situations makes the story very engaging. My favorite part is

The colorful and vibrant illustration captures the attention of the audience right from the start.

Through this fun story the children learn to appreciate the importance of friendship and sticking together in time of need. They sense if you treat others well, others will treat you well too.

Room on the Broom is one of Julia Donaldson's best sellers. She is one of UK's most popular children's author. Some of her award winning works are Gruffalo, Running on the cracks novel for teenagers, the Princess Mirror-Belle stories and The Giants and the Joneses.

 Gruffalo and Stick Man are some of his other award winning works.Axel is the illustrator of Royal Mail’s official Christmas stamps 2012 too.              

Alex Scheffler's  amazing illustrations have won worldwide acclaim. 

Visit  http://roomonthebroom.com/  for more. It is packed with activities for kids, apps, DVD and 'Room on the Broom' merchandise.

Whoosh !!!  Go ahead and enjoy the magical journey........

Board book, easy to hold and carry for children, Glossy pages.

Available in Amazon and Flipkart.