The Naughty Corner

Colin Thompson (author/illustrator)

Lothian Children's Books, Australia: July 2011

ISBN: 9780733619915

Genres: picture book, satire

Issues: choices, risk taking

Most of us have times in our lives when we are sent to the Naughty Corner, whether we deserve it or not. It's supposed to give us time to think about our behaviour and consider our choices. So... what kind of person do you become if you're never sent to the Naughty Corner?

In Thompson's characteristically dry and satirical style, The Naughty Corner explores the difference between the black and white rule-driven people of this world and those who have a somewhat more relaxed attitude towards life. It's about risk-taking versus blind obedience. It's about independent viewpoints versus unthinking acceptance. It's about being yourself as opposed to being shut in a box.

Readers everywhere will love the way Thompson thumbs his nose at 'the establishment' and celebrates being yourself. The illustrations are deceptively simple as they're mostly images of the Naughty Corner. Thompson being Thompson, this is a Naughty Corner like no other and the text makes limited sense without the information provided by the illustrations, which underline the rebellious humour and subtext about the joys of being different.

Great fun to be read alone or with others, parents and teachers might need to first read Thompson's dedication (at the back of the book, for a change), which reads: 'For Alice – this is NOT an instruction book.'

Really it isn't. Really. No, I mean it. Excuse me, I'm just off to the Naughty Corner – all the best people spend some time there.

Same author: The Big Little Book of Happy Sadness; The Short But Incredibly Happy Life of Riley; Barry