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

 

Ten apples up on top

Age - 4 to 5 years

Author - Dr. Seuss writing as Theo. Lesieg

Illustration - Roy McKie

Publisher - HarperCollins Children's Books

I had heard mixed reviews about this book from parents. Those who loved it always grinned at the mention of it.

“Ten apples up on top” was the first one I picked up. Both Junior and I fell in love with it. It’s about a lion, dog and tiger that show off how many apples they can balance on their heads as they skip, climb trees, tight rope walk and skate. The story is full of action and excitement which had Junior rolling with laughter.

The sentences are short and have a rhythm which makes reading easier. It also introduces elementary counting. As he reads the child gets to know his number names one, two, and three well. For instance

“ You can do three       or      “And now, see here.

But I can do more.               Eight ! Eight on top !

You have three                    Eight apples up!

But I have four. “                 Not one will drop. “

The illustrations compliment the fun part very well. Junior read and re read it every day with lot of joy.

There are three categories of books –  Green back is for the beginners , ‘Ten apples up on  top ‘ can be tried as first read.

Please visit http://www.seussville.com/ for more.

Follow up parent child activity:

-   Ask your child to draw his picture. Ask him to draw as many apples he wants on his head. After the drawing is over both of you count the apples and write “……… has ……… number of apples on his head”. Display it proudly on the fridge for all to see.

-   This activity requires some pre-work. Draw and cut out of at least 10 numbers apples. Keep a strip of long stiff paper and glue handy. Ask your child to stick as many apples cut- outs he wants on the strip. Stick this strip on your child’s head band. Now he can pretend to be the lion himself.

-   Ask your child to bring his favorite toys – cars etc. Ask him to place the apple cut-outs beside the toys starting from one end. Both of you count aloud the number of apples required to cover the whole length of the car. A nice way to introduce the concept of length measurement to the little one.

-   During playtime you and your child can have a ‘highest tower’ contest with building blocks. All along make sure both of you count loudly.

Harold and the Purple Crayon

Is your little one in love ♥ ♥ ♥ with crayons ?

Are the walls of your house, now, canvas for your budding artist ?

Does your little one have a favorite color ?........G-E-R-EEE-N or BU-LOOO...

Harold loves his Purple Crayon. One evening he decides to go for a walk in the moon light. He draws anything that he thinks 'needs to happen' with his Purple Crayon.

He draws the moon and a straight road to follow and sets off on his adventurous journey.  He draws  what he desires and sometimes falls in difficult situations. He is a smart child and  draws his way out. When Harold found himself drowning in the ocean, he quickly drew a boat, climbed on it and sailed off.

He comes across a forest, is frightened by a dragon,  enjoys a picnic on the beach and has many more adventures before he returns home and falls asleep.

This book is a wonderful way of exploring the powers of imagination, quick thinking and perseverance. It encourages the child to think creatively when faced with problems.

Age Group : Early readers, 4 to 6 years

After reading the book, there are a lot of parent- child activities that you can do with your child.

• When you are stuck in the traffic, next time, you can ask your child what Harold would draw to help  you out of the situation. Hopefully,  you can  avoid the usual - "why is the car not moving, Mom ????" question  by doing this :)
• On a big drawing paper both of you can take turns to draw. Say, you draw a mountain,"It is the highest mountain in the world". Your child adds some more details.He draws a boy with a bag pack "This is me, I want to climb it".  Go on and spin an amazing story together !!!

What is your child's favorite color ?