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.

 

 

 

 

 

What's Up Mumu?

What’s Up Mumu? is an incredibly funny and unique picture book from the wonderful David Mackintosh who previously bought us the excellent Standing In For Lincoln Green. I was lucky enough to be sent a proof from HarperCollins and with Mackintosh’s fabulous illustrations this stood out to me immediately.  

 

The story follows two friends, Mumu and Lox. Mumu is in a very bad and grumpy mood and is totally fed up. Best buddy Lox is trying to cheer Mumu up in any way that he can think of. He goes to an enormous amount of effort to try and make Mumu’s day a little better but all of his gestures seem annoy Mumu even further. Lox tries everything, from going to the lake to a trip to the countryside. Mumu has a constant excuse why she can’t enjoy Lox’s efforts. Eventually, Lox thinks he has the best idea and takes Mumu to the fantastic High Skyscraper! It’s eighty stories tall, twenty meters wide and has five thousand windows. It takes two years to paint and by the time you finish you have to start all over again! Lox takes Mumu to the top only to find that Mumu has no interest in the magnificent High Skyscraper. Lox ends up losing his temper with Mumu which then leads Mumu to try and cheer up Lox. Mumu ends up telling Lox to “Cheer up. It can’t be so bad, whatever it is”. The pair make up.

 

Mackintosh’s incredible illustrations make this book all the more a joy to read. In every page there is something to spot which makes the book all the more humorous. My personal favourite has to be all the cinema posters for horse films. Lox’s facial expressions are also hilarious.

 

I think what I like the most about this book is how it relates to adults almost in the exact same way it relates to children. I often feel that I have been in a mood like Mumu and no matter what my friends try and do to cheer me up I am set on being a grump for the whole day. Equally I also find myself trying to improve my friend’s days whenever they are feeling sad only to find myself getting annoyed when they have no interest in cheering up.

 

What’s Up Mumu? is a fantastic picture book for both parents and children as well as people like me that feel they just often have grumpy days and need to brighten up. This is a funny and open look at most friendships that are around us while showing us not to take our own relationships for granted.

 

 

 

The High Street

The High Street by Alice Melvin is a beautifully illustrated, fun and catchy tale about a little girl's visit to the shops and everything she has to remember to buy. The young girl has a rather long list of things to remember to buy and is only able to get these things from separate shops. On every page her rhyming shopping list becomes shorter and shorter until she only has a yellow rose left to buy. When she enters the last shop to buy her yellow rose, they have sold out! The young girl sadly leaves the shop to take the long walk home when she stumbles upon a garden packed full of yellow roses.

The layout of this book is brilliant. I love that every page has a flap that you can lift so you can see into all of the various shops on the high street. The rhyming shopping list is also a fantastic aspect of the book as you find yourself joining in with all the things the little girl needs to buy. Melvin’s illustrations are also completely stunning, simple and very pretty. This quirky little picture book is fabulous and fun from the very start.