Monday, November 26, 2007
Literary review, number one
Well, it's been a while between drinks, er, posts. Who'd have thought that working full time and having three children would be busy?
So I thought I'd kick things off with a book review. Of course, I don't get time to read any more (who does?) Well, not quite true, but does anyone want to read reviews of Basic Electronics, Linux Email and The Physics of Radiation Therapy (thanks to Cath for that last one)? No, I thought not.
So let's look, realistically, at what I do mainly read these days: children's books. At least two a day, every single day, and often more. It's so important to read to your children, they say. Mind you, I wonder if the people who say that have read some of rubbish I've been subjected to.
Anyway... here goes with a couple that have been top of the stack for the Banttha boys of late.
Muncha Muncha Muncha
What's to say? A bloke (the rather unloveable Mr McGreely) plants a vegie patch, some rabbits eat it (gasps of horror from the audience) so he builds progressively larger and more elaborate fortifications to protect them. The rabbits still win, and in the end he gives up. What a message of hope for our youngsters - give up, your best is no match for some vermin.
Son the Elder likes it, possibly because the catch-phrase "Muncha muncha muncha!" is repeated every few pages.
Pro: short, easy to follow
Con: features the phrase "fresh, crisp vegies" which makes me sound like I wear false teeth, no matter how well I prepare for it.
Dig Dig Digging
Various machinery (diggers, bulldozers, fire engines, the basic stuff that boys seem to really dig, pun intended) doing stuff. Accompanied by some tiresome prose that alwats ends with "They can work all day!" which gets a bit old by the sixth or seventh repetition. Son the Elder is now officially deputised to repeat that bit now, to save my sanity.
The illustrations are, to my untrained eye, crap, however the boys are still happy enough with them. Son the Younger requests this one without fail each night lately, so I can only presume that he likes it a lot. Either that, or he knows it irritates me.
Pro: good for the younger ones, features machinery
Con: don't like the illustrations, repetitive text
The Little Mole Who Knew It Was None Of His Business
Scatalogical literature at its finest! A mole comes out of his hole, only to have someone shit on his head. The bulk of the story involves him accusing various animals of perpetrating this heinous deed, and seeing the counter evidence in the form of their actual fecal matter being deposited for his inspection. Thanks go to Hannah's Dad for this pearler of a book.
As well as providing the children with fairly accurate depictions of animal turds (Euro-focused, but you do get that with kids' books) it provides the adult reader the perfect opportunity to talk about, well shit. Lest ye think it's obscene, I assure you it's in the very finest taste. As much as is possible, anyway. After a few rounds of Dig Dig Digging, this book is a welcome relief.
Pro: lots of poo, interesting variety of animals, blessed relief from overly-sanitised kids' books
Con: shocked the mother-in-law a bit (actually, maybe that's really pro?), there's only so much you can say about poo before it loses its fascination. I'm hoping this book did not contribute to Son the Younger's recent decision to shuck his full nappy to investigate.
Well, I think that'll do for now. Mrs. Banttha should soon be back from the kinder AGM (it's non-stop rock 'n' roll in this house, no?) and who knows, perhaps we will spend a few minutes chatting before the sandman comes along and slugs me in the back of the head with a sandbag.
So I thought I'd kick things off with a book review. Of course, I don't get time to read any more (who does?) Well, not quite true, but does anyone want to read reviews of Basic Electronics, Linux Email and The Physics of Radiation Therapy (thanks to Cath for that last one)? No, I thought not.
So let's look, realistically, at what I do mainly read these days: children's books. At least two a day, every single day, and often more. It's so important to read to your children, they say. Mind you, I wonder if the people who say that have read some of rubbish I've been subjected to.
Anyway... here goes with a couple that have been top of the stack for the Banttha boys of late.
Muncha Muncha Muncha
What's to say? A bloke (the rather unloveable Mr McGreely) plants a vegie patch, some rabbits eat it (gasps of horror from the audience) so he builds progressively larger and more elaborate fortifications to protect them. The rabbits still win, and in the end he gives up. What a message of hope for our youngsters - give up, your best is no match for some vermin.
Son the Elder likes it, possibly because the catch-phrase "Muncha muncha muncha!" is repeated every few pages.
Pro: short, easy to follow
Con: features the phrase "fresh, crisp vegies" which makes me sound like I wear false teeth, no matter how well I prepare for it.
Dig Dig Digging
Various machinery (diggers, bulldozers, fire engines, the basic stuff that boys seem to really dig, pun intended) doing stuff. Accompanied by some tiresome prose that alwats ends with "They can work all day!" which gets a bit old by the sixth or seventh repetition. Son the Elder is now officially deputised to repeat that bit now, to save my sanity.
The illustrations are, to my untrained eye, crap, however the boys are still happy enough with them. Son the Younger requests this one without fail each night lately, so I can only presume that he likes it a lot. Either that, or he knows it irritates me.
Pro: good for the younger ones, features machinery
Con: don't like the illustrations, repetitive text
The Little Mole Who Knew It Was None Of His Business
Scatalogical literature at its finest! A mole comes out of his hole, only to have someone shit on his head. The bulk of the story involves him accusing various animals of perpetrating this heinous deed, and seeing the counter evidence in the form of their actual fecal matter being deposited for his inspection. Thanks go to Hannah's Dad for this pearler of a book.
As well as providing the children with fairly accurate depictions of animal turds (Euro-focused, but you do get that with kids' books) it provides the adult reader the perfect opportunity to talk about, well shit. Lest ye think it's obscene, I assure you it's in the very finest taste. As much as is possible, anyway. After a few rounds of Dig Dig Digging, this book is a welcome relief.
Pro: lots of poo, interesting variety of animals, blessed relief from overly-sanitised kids' books
Con: shocked the mother-in-law a bit (actually, maybe that's really pro?), there's only so much you can say about poo before it loses its fascination. I'm hoping this book did not contribute to Son the Younger's recent decision to shuck his full nappy to investigate.
Well, I think that'll do for now. Mrs. Banttha should soon be back from the kinder AGM (it's non-stop rock 'n' roll in this house, no?) and who knows, perhaps we will spend a few minutes chatting before the sandman comes along and slugs me in the back of the head with a sandbag.
Labels: book review
# posted by Banttha Fodder @ 1:44 AM 
