THE TWITS

By Roald Dahl
Illustrated by Quentin Blake
Copyright © 1980
Review by Anthony Kendrick

What happens when 2 of the meanest old people come up against 4 young boys, 4 monkeys, 1 roly-poly bird from Africa, and hundreds of European birds? They get outwitted.

Mr. and Mrs. Twit are old, mean, and ugly. Mr. Twit has a long, unkempt, food littered beard and Mrs. Twit has a screwed up face and a glass eye that always stares in the wrong direction. These two used to be decent looking people but years of bad thinking has made them look as ugly as their thoughts. Mr. and Mrs. Twit love to torture each other with mean spirited practical jokes. They like to catch unsuspecting birds and make bird pie. And they like to train monkeys to perform upside down. All of this meanness is going to catch up with the Twits when the birds conspire with the monkeys to give the Twits what they deserve.

Giving mean and obnoxious people consequences of their actions is what Roald Dahl does best. In “The Twits” Dahl gives us two people who are laughably mean. The practical jokes that they play on each other are pretty old fashioned and low-tech by today’s standards, but still very funny. That said, however, the retaliation of the monkey’s and birds was in general predictable, so the first half of the book was more enjoyable than the last half.

After reading this and many other Roald Dahl books, I have to say that to me his writing style seems very giddy. It is not always pleasant to read because bits and pieces are always added, and sometimes you never do realize why they are there. I think this is what makes his stories enjoyable for children though, because when they read his books, they read as if a child was telling the story. That, I believe, is a hard thing to accomplish, and that is why he remains one of the most loved children’s authors of all time.

LARF

By Ashley Spires
Published by Kids Can Press
Copyright © 2012
Review by Anthony Kendrick 

 
I have always had an affinity for the Sasquatch legend. I will freely admit that there is a little part of me that believes that Sasquatch is out there. But even if they aren’t, to believe in them is to retain that sense of unexplainable wonderment in the natural world. So when I saw “Larf,” by Ashley Spires, I knew I had to read it.

Larf, as you may have guessed, is a Sasquatch. He likes the fact that no one knows he exists, and even when they see him they don’t really believe he exists. Larf is the only Sasquatch in the world and he loves his privacy.

While reading the newspaper one day he reads an article that says that “a Sasquatch is scheduled to make an appearance today in the nearby city of Hunderfitz.” Larf wonders how this could be, and then he wonders how this could affect him. Larf has no choice; he must go to Hunderfitz to see this Sasquatch. Larf is in for a surprise.

The story of Larf is cute. As much as I hate the word “cute” there is no other word that fits. There is no deep layer of morality to this tale; it is just cute. Sure you could look at it as a tale about getting out of your own head and letting others in so that we can make friends, but that is merely an aside to the cuteness.

Fortunately, “cute” is not the only thing that “Larf” has going for it. This story is very humorous. Most of this humor shows up in the illustrations. Spires’ line art is reminiscent of the work of Craig Bartlett on the Nickelodeon cartoon “Hey, Arnold” (which I loved), but she lightens it up and makes it more whimsical and fluffy with her use of what seems to be water color. The funny comes not just in her way of drawing people and Larf, but in the way she juxtaposes the text of the story with the illustrations. For instance I laughed when we read “Larf knows no one would ever leave him alone if they found out he was real.” And then we see an illustration with his face on the cover of magazines, newspapers, and tabloids with the addition of a book featuring his pet bunny Eric on the cover with the title “Bigfoot’s Bunny: Shocking Tell-All Memoir.”

This book will definitely get five stars on my book sharing accounts. It will be a welcome addition to the story time rotation for children’s groups or individual children ages 3 to 103.

LAST LAUGHS: ANIMAL EPITAPHS

By J. Patrick Lewis and Jane Yolen
Illustrated by Jeffrey Stewart Timmins
Published by Charlesbridge
Copyright © 2012
Review by Mr. Kendrick

With simple rhyme, smirking puns, and slightly sadistic illustrations “Last Laughs” will make you laugh, let’s just hope that it isn’t your last.

The epitaph poems in this darkly humorous
book are simple and pun-ny, and in general they were passable. Some were clever like Cooked Goose –

            

            “He was Canada born
              And Canada bred,
              And here he lies –
              Canada dead.” 

Others, like Swan Song on the very next page, were not very impressive. –

             “A simple song.
              It wasn’t long.”

What makes this book of childishly dark poems enjoyable is the even darker illustrations of Timmins. His grey/sepia toned pictures are sparingly splashed with bright color which often spell an animals end. The illustrations more than make up for some of the uninspired poetry, and I’m not ashamed to say that they made me giggle.

Assuming they don’t have delicate constitutions, this book should appeal to most boys and even girls with a morbid sense of humor. If you are an animal lover or a member of PETA this book might not be for you.

TOUCHING SPIRIT BEAR

By Ben Mikaelsen
Published by Harper Collins
Copyright ©2001
Review by Anthony Kendrick

“How would you feel if a Bear made its den beside a stream?”

      “I’d kill it.”

“Animals feel the same way. Don’t forget that.”

Cole Matthews will never be able to forget that, after his experience with a spirit bear.

Cole is an angry young man; he lashes out at whatever or whoever is around him when his anger bubbles over. This time Cole goes too far and beats a young man, Peter Driscoll, so badly that he may have permanent brain damage. Cole is in big trouble, a motion is being filed to try him as an adult. When he is offered “Circle Justice, a system based on Native American traditions that attempts to provide healing for the criminal offender, the victim, and the community,” Cole jumps at the chance to be bailed out of trouble one more time. As part of his circle justice sentence he is sent half way across the country to a remote Alaskan island where he will be tasked with coming to terms with his anger and making amends for his errors. Before he can do any of that he comes face to face with the Spirit Bear and his life will never be the same.

“Touching Spirit Bear” is a survival book, but it is also a book about redemption and responsibility. Cole certainly has reasons for all of his anger but instead of getting help to deal with his anger he lashes out, and then he blames everyone else. I really appreciated how the book shows that the long road to redemption and rehabilitation begins with you. The focus is what Cole did with is anger, not why he was angry. He could roll his anger down the hill or he could hold it in and feed on it.

Ben Mikaelson has written a fantastic book, and I understand now why our Language arts teachers use it in their curriculum. If you can’t wait till that class to read this book, then come to the library and check it out.

IT'S A BOOK

by Lane Smith
Published by Roaring Book Press
Copyright 2010
Review by Anthony Kendrick

A monkey, a mouse, and a "Donkey" walk into a library... and so begins the joke.

The monkey is quietly looking at this rectangular thing that opens up, and the inside is covered with words that seem to run left to right top to botton. The "Donkey" ;) understandably, has no idea what he is doing with that contraption or what it is for.

"It's a Book" is one of the funniest books I have ever read, and it is quite apropos for the generation that we live in where paper and ink seems to be antiquated and children are not developing the fine motor skills necessary to turn pages, but seem to have rapid eye and thumb dexterity. Pick up a real book now, and start with this one "It's a Book". You'll thank me.