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.

 

 

 

 

 

The Honest Truth

I recently got sent the proof copy of The Honest Truth by Dan Gemeinhart from Chicken House. I started reading it without having any idea what the plot was about. I soon discovered that it was a beautiful and heartbreakingly sad account of a young boy who has cancer and is determined to climb to the top of Mt Rainer.

 

The story’s heroes are Mark and his dog Beau (the smartest dog in the world may I add). Mark and Beau set run away from the family home to climb Mt Rainer. From the start of the book the reader can tell that Mark is sick. It is only a few chapters in that you realise that he has cancer. Mark has decided that climbing Mt Rainer is something that he needs to do before he becomes too sick and can’t do it all. With Mark and Beau we travel on a long, tough journey through back alleys and midnight diners as well as chance encounters with hateful gangs and friendly strangers.  

 

 

The Honest Truth is a moving account of what a young sick boy who, against all odds does something that most healthy people could not do just because he believed in himself. When I finished reading this book I was left feeling quite humble. It doesn’t end with an ending; it ends with a beginning which I think is very positive given that we never find out if Mark pulls through or not.

 

After finishing The Honest Truth I was having a look at some reviews on goodreads to see what other people had thought of this beautiful book. I must say I found myself getting annoyed as I felt that I was reading every two out of three reviews calling it “The Fault In Our Stars for younger readers”. It annoyed me that people have thought that two very different books can be lumped into the same category just because the main character has cancer. The Honest Truth is an extremely smart book for children who are growing up and want to read about complex things in the world such as cancer.

 

Dan Gemeinhart has created a wonderful hope filled book for young readers. It teaches children to not feel that things are hopeless when times are bad and to have faith in people around you, whether they are strangers or people in your family; don’t isolate yourself and accept the help of others because you will never get very far without your friends.