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Willy the Wimp - Anthony Browne
by panandtilt
~~Author, illustrator and publisher~~~~
Willy the Wimp is written and illustrated by written by Anthony Browne. For those of you who have not heard of Anthony Browne I shall give you a short synopsis of his literary career. Anthony Browne is a prolific author of children's fiction/picture books. He has been writing and ... illustrating children's books for many years, his first book was published in 1976 (Through the Magic Mirror) and since then he has written around 40 other notable children's picture books. Many of which have been nominated (and won) awards. In my opinion Anthony Browne is an outstanding author of children's books. His books have underlying meaning, always something relevant to children. His book Gorilla is about relationships with parents and this book is about bullying. Published by Walker Books in 2008, Willy the Wimp was also illustrated by Anthony Browne. Willy the Wimp contains many features which are thematic across many of his books; this is an important aspect of children's literature as it helps them to make links within books and also helps them to recognise authors and their styles of writing.
~~~~The Story~~~~
Willy the Wimp is a story which many children will relate to. Willy is a polite boy who wouldn't hurt a fly. He is so nice and so polite he apologises for things which aren't his fault, like when someone walks into him. Although he is nice and kind, Willy is a wimp. He is scared of his own shadow and was often picked on because of it.
One day Willy decided he had had enough and after seeing an advert for a book to help him be a 'wimp no more' he became determined to improve himself. The story depicts how Willy develops his physique through exercise and a healthy diet. These things alone do not give Willy his confidence; it is his determination to be better and less of a wimp that enables Willy to stand up to the bullies.
After a lot of work by Willy he is finally proud of himself and when Willy rescues Milly (his girlfriend??) from the suburban gorillas (a gang?) and is hailed a hero, the bullies run off and he is left with lipstick on his cheek. Willy has changed his appearance and he is not such a wimp now, but is he still the same Willy? I'll let you find out.
~~~~My opinion~~~~
This is, along with Gorilla (also by Anthony Browne and also reviewed by me), one of my top ten favourite children's books. It has everything a children's book should have. It is humorous, repetitive, relevant, easy to read, moralistic and beautifully illustrated. I beg you to read this and his other wonderful books to your children and grandchildren, you will not regret it.
ISBN: 978-1406318746
Available from Amazon new for around £10.99 and used from just £0.01
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Oxford Reading Tree: Stage 11:Treetops Non-Fiction: The Tower of London - Becca Heddle
by broxi3781
We have a habit of reading one book that mentions something my son isn't very familiar with, and then buying three other books to explain everything. My son has been reading a series of zombie books, and some of the action takes place at The Tower of London, so we ended up looking for a book on the subject. I choose this particular one ... simply because it was published by Oxford Reading Tree. I was not familiar with the Tree Tops line, but these are graded as well and fit in nicely with Project X books we use. Tree Tops also appear to have more in non fiction, which my son has been really likes. This is Stage 11, which is intended for 8-9 year olds. My son is 6, and does read some books at this level, but after reading it myself first ( as I always do) I decided to read this one out loud.
My son is usually not easily upset by books. He reads the most gruesome things in his zombie books, but as he says "zombies aren't real". Nothing really worries him in these books, although he doesn't particularly like it when a favourite character is killed off. 'The Tower of London' is a different matter though. It is non- fiction.
This book is 24 pages. It is primarily illustrated with colour drawings, a few black and white drawings and a few photos. There is a lovely photograph of a painting of Edward V and Prince Richard. The overall standard of the artwork is quite high, as one would expect from Oxford. The text is clear and bold, but often printed over colours and patterns making this book less suitable for those with dyslexia. Again, I know this it nitpicking, but it would be so easy to just print all of these books in a formats that would make reading easier for children with dyslexia.
This is non fiction - so there really is not a story. Instead this tells us different facts about the tower. There are a couple of large drawings detailed the Tower layout, and the various buildings. There is a section on famous prisoners, graffiti left by inmates, the menagerie kept at the tower, armour and the Crown Jewels, the fire of London, the mint, and tourism. There are also sections on torture and execution, and it was these pages my son found upsetting. They are not distasteful, nor are they particularly gruesome. The most horrible would be a black and white woodcut style picture of a fellow being drawn and about to be quartered. There is not a great deal of description - thankfully.
My son was a bit upset by this. He wanted to know if a human would really do that to another human. I found this very hard to explain. I ended up telling him that a long long time ago, most countries used torture and horrible deaths as a way to gain information and set an example for criminals. I told him that when children are very young, they do things they should not. All of the worlds countries have also done some horrid things in the past. Just as children grow up and learn to behave better, so countries mature and learn better ways to treat people. Of course a child can not really do anything terrible, but sadly, countries can. Our country is much older now and well past such atrocities. I'm not sure if the explanation was adequate, but it was the best I could come up with.
Next of course was, how would they get anyone to actually kill or torture anyone else. Again I was left explaining that most people are basically good, but there will always be a few very bad people, and even today there are people who would enjoy hurting others, or do it for profit. Finally this book had a word he was unfamiliar with "treason". This one seemed to horrify him the most of all. He simply could not believe any person would betray their country.
On the plus side though, he really enjoyed being able to see the setting for his favourite books. It really helped him understand some parts of his zombie stories and we discussed quite a bit about why the Tower would be a perfect place to defend. He was also very interested in crown jewels as well as the six ravens kept in the tower. He did say that the legend is not true. He doesn't believe much in legends, being very firmly aware of the difference between real and make believe, but he still loves the story of Bran the Blessed.
My overall opinion of this book is quite high. It is well written and very educational. I would however suggest that parents read this one with their children unless the children are much older. I do regret a small amount that this book took some innocence away - I did not realise before that he thought humanity incapable of such evil before. Had I realised this, I would have waited until he was older to give him this book. I do not think this book will disturb most children, especially not those in the target age range of 8+. I think this is just one of those things, and these questions are bound to come up at some point. On the plus side, I'm glad teh questions came up over a book, with me beside him, able to explain the best I could.
I will not rate this book down due to my son's reaction. He is still very happy to have the book. It is well written and does everything it sets out to do, which is to teach children about the Tower. I don't really think you could write a very complete book on this subject without some mention of unpleasant topics. I have noticed though, that an Amazon review says this book goes into the 3rd Reich and the final solution. It most certainly does not and there is no way on earth I teaching my son about those topics for years to come. I had nightmares for years when I found out as a child. He does not need to know just how horrible humanity can be just yet. The only reference to Nazi's is a picture of Rudolph Hess as one of the famous prisoners.
I do recommend this book, but with some reservations. Unless your child has a special interest in The Tower, I think I would leave this book until age 8 or so. If by chance you will be visiting The Tower though, I think this would be a wonderful book to buy beforehand, and of course such topics are going to come up anyway. It's easier to explain them at home then in a crowded tourist attraction. Although this is clearly a child's book, I did enjoy it myself, and could see an adult buying this before a visit to the tower. I paid £4.10, which is fair enough in my opinion, considering the overall quality of this book. The fact that it fits into our reading programme is an added bonus.
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