Meet the Dullards

Meet the Dullards is an exciting new picture book from writer Sara Pennypacker and illustrator Daniel Salmieri. When I first saw the fantastic cover of this book I knew I would love it. With things like “Extra boring edition!!” on the cover and “I yawned the whole way through” – A. Reader, I knew this was an interesting and fun book.

Meet the Dullards tells the story of the Dullard family, Mr and Mrs Dullard and their three children Blanda, Borely and Little Dud. One day Mr and Mrs Dullard come home to find their three boring children reading some rather exciting literature. After making this discovery Mr and Mrs Dullard decide there are too many things where they live that might make Blanda, Borely and Little Dud interesting. The family decide to pack up and move away.

 

Once they had packed up all of their dull possessions and moved the family are soon greeted by a colourful neighbour. The neighbour offers the family an applesauce cake. Mr Dullard refuses to take the cake because it has chunky applesauce and that is far too unpredictable. Mr and Mrs Dullard explore the house and come across a room that has been decorated with bright flowery wallpaper. Shock horror! They rush to the paint shop to buy the dullest paint they can find to paint over it.

Mr and Mrs Dullard soon decide that for the most boring shade of paint you can create comes with mixing the two most drab colours, medium grey and beige. When it is mixed it comes out the colour of porridge left in the pot. Mr and Mrs Dullard paint the room with the boring paint and are soon fascinated in watching the paint dry. Whilst they are having fun watching the wall Blanda, Borely and Little Dud manage to sneak out of the house. Mr and Mrs Dullard soon find the children outside doing fun and exciting things. The parents decide that they have made a huge mistake moving the children and decide to move back home. As soon as Mr and Mrs Dullard are fast asleep in their boring bed the three children sneak out yet again and join the circus.

 

This picture book is wonderful, funny and full of little things to spot on every page. I never thought I would read a book about the most boring family and for it to be so hilarious. Daniel Salmieri’s illustrations are the key to what makes this book so different. The facial expressions of the family are so amusing even though they are totally nonplussed throughout the story.

My favourite thing about this book however is that no matter how much Mr and Mrs Dullard tried to make their children as boring and dull as possible it did not work. I think it sends out a great message to both adults and children about being who you are and not taking life to seriously.

 

 

 

 

 

Nuts in Space

 

The minute I saw Nuts in Space I became very excited. I was a huge fan of Dolan’s first picture book, “Weasels”. On reading Nuts in Space I was not disappointed. It is a very similar layout to Weasels with every page packed full of fun and interesting things to spot.

 

 

Nuts in Space is a parody of Star Wars, I have not seen the films and I still found this book hilarious. The tale begins with a Star Wars style introduction with an overview of the story telling us about the fantastical “Lost Nuts of Legend” which will render the eater immortal, invincible and it will never be past their bedtime. However, the nuts must never be eaten. The hapless crew have the nuts and are returning to Earth, only they are very hungry and there is no food on board their space ship.

The crew soon find that their usually reliable star-nav has broken down. Immediately the crew go into meltdown at the thought of not being home for tea and having the forbidden food on board. They then travel from location to location trying to find directions on how to get back home. Along the way they come across a rowdy diner that has also run out of food, a small moon full of aliens that are all allergic to nuts, the Forest Planet that is home to some rather sinister and cute bears and lastly (and my favourite) the ominous Death Banana. The Death Banana is where the evil (storm trooper) monkeys live with their leader the Monkey Overlord. When the crew are attacked the Wise Owl spots a sign for home and the gang manage to make a speedy getaway.

 

Once back on board the ship the crew make a terrible discovery. Beaver could not contain his hunger anymore and has eaten The Lost Nuts of Legend! Captain Moose is left with no choice but to turn his ship around and head once more back into space in search for more nuts, much to the crew’s dismay.

 

 

 

This picture book was an absolute delight to read. I absolutely loved going through each page and finding the funny little jokes and hidden puns. I really liked that this book appeals to adults as much as children. As with Weasels this will go with my vast collection of picture books and will come out when I’m in need of a good giggle.