The Trouble With...(Mum, Dad, Gran, Grandad)
Babette Cole (author/illustrator)
William Heinemann Ltd, UK: 1991; 32pp
ISBN: 1850517495
Genres: fantasy, humour, picture book
Issues: identity
The trouble with Mum is that she's a witch.
The trouble with Dad is that he's really a crazy inventor of bizarre robots. The trouble with Gran is that underneath her grandmotherly exterior she is actually an alien. The trouble with Grandad is he grows such enormous vegetables that all his friends are jealous and set out to get him in trouble with the police.
This is another excellent example of interdependent text and illustrations. The illustrations are detailed and humorous, providing plenty of stimulus for acute observers. The text is very simple in each book, but designed to underline the humour. All the books carry themes of acceptance of people with differences, as well as encouraging young reader/listeners to ask "what if" about the world and people around them. Lots of fun to read aloud.
These are wonderful stories, all similar in theme and structure, designed to appeal to the young child's imagination.
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Did you know?
Nothing contributes so much to tranquilizing the mind as a steady purpose - a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye. |
