Tag danger

Sir Ned and the Nasties

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Sir Ned and the Nasties
Brett and David McKee
Andersen Press
Who or what are the Nasties? Their screeching, howling sounds emanating from the deep dark wood are driving the King in his castle crazy and making the village houses shake. The King sends for the bravest of his knights, one Sir Ned the Noble who sets off into the woods in search of whatever it is that’s making his highness ill and scaring the daylights out of the villagers. Before long he encounters a troll who offers to act as his guide; so the two proceed together.
Encounter number two happens soon after …

The witch too offers her assistance in the search for those Nasties. They cross a bridge and come upon Wolf. Now there are four in the search and Wolf leads the way … towards a cleverly concealed cave entrance. “Enter here, if you be brave!” says the sign.
Then Sir Ned gets a nasty surprise for the Nasties are none other than …

But luckily for him, Ned has a song in his head and a plan up his sleeve: a plan that will change the lives of all concerned; and for the better …

That though, is not quite the end of this rhyming tale penned by Brett, the illustrator’s son …
That Ned is completely oblivious to the dangers posed by his fellow seekers is sure to have your audience wriggling with anticipatory delight. David McKee’s mock-scary Nasties are deliciously funny: who can take seriously that hairy, trainer-wearing troll with his pink braces and striped cut-offs or a wolf sporting cravat and purple pants?

I’ve signed the charter  

The Mouse that Cancelled Christmas

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The Mouse That Cancelled Christmas
Madeleine Cook and Samara Hardy
Oxford University Press
This is certainly a Christmas story with a difference: the story of Mouse for whom Christmas means danger, danger because, as a baby, he’d been biffed on the head by a flying bauble. Now, he seems to have assumed the role of health and safety officer with a vengeance. Donning fluorescent jacket and hard hat Mouse dashes around the clearing in Jingle Bell Forest inspecting the animals’ preparations and finding fault with everything. The pine needles are far too sharp, the lights too dazzling and the star way too pointy.

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The Rabbit Chorus seems to be breaking every rule in the book – Mouse’s book that is. In fact nothing passes muster where he is concerned: he wants the entire celebration called off …

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But then Mole and Owl quietly mention the ‘p’ word and suddenly events take a turn for the better. Maybe, just maybe, that cancellation of Mouse’s might be reversed after all …
There are so many things to love about this book, not least the delightfully unexpected grand finale. Then there’s that tiny robin who offers his own mini narrative at almost every turn of the page …

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and the thoughtful placing of certain elements of the text; all that’s in addition to the wonderful fanaticism of health-and-safety ‘jobsworth’ Mouse and the growing concern of the other forest animals as they hear him passing judgement on their various activities All are brilliantly portrayed in Samara Hardy’s splendidly funny illustrations for this amusing (for adults, tongue-in-cheek) tale. I bet there’s not one reader aloud out there who hasn’t been on the receiving end of a human version of Mouse on occasion; it’s certainly so in schools and usually the ‘mouse’ person has no idea of the ridiculousness of their pronouncements. Madeleine Cook and Samara Hardy will assuredly make many youngsters and adults laugh this festive season.