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Mr. Men Library: Mr. Chatterbox - Roger Hargreaves
by emmachilcott
For many years now, my sons have been the proud joint owners of the entire set of Mr Men books by Roger Hargreaves. They did not take the easy way out and buy the box set; they bought each book in the set one by one every time we popped into town. It took them a long time but they now have them all, and when you have the entire ... collection set out in order, the spines of the books reads "My Mr Men Library" and this is all that they were aiming for!
Within the set Mr Chatterbox comes in at book number 20 and a neat little read it is too.
~~ Synopsis ~~
Mr Chatterbox (who lives in Chatterbox Cottage) is the king of small talk - he talks to anybody, strangers and friends alike about absolutely anything. Where a couple of words would suffice, Mr Chatterbox says fifty, very often repeating himself. He holds up the postman by chatting too much and making him late for his rounds, then he goes to the hat shop for a new hat and makes the hat shop owner late for his tea because of his inane chattering. The hat maker decides to get his own back by ordering a new hat for Mr Chatterbox. A magic hat. A hat that gets bigger and bigger with every word that Mr Chatterbox says, so much bigger that it covers his whole face and body so whoever he is talking to - and probably holding up - can make a sneaky getaway! When Mr Chatterbox stops talking the hat shrinks back to its normal size. The hat teaches Mr Chatterbox a lesson and he stops talking useless drivel - result for his fellow Mr residents!
~~ My Thoughts ~~
I personally love the entire Mr Men series. I believe that even the most reluctant readers will be encouraged to read by Mr Men simply because they are so easy to read and Mr Chatterbox is no different. The small book is very light and easy to hold even for the youngest hands, and the brightly coloured and simple pictures on every other page help to maintain interest - the entire page is covered with a simple illustration made from thick black lines and basic shapes that usually tells the story of whatever has happened on the adjacent page.
The words are set out very well. On some pages there is only one line of text which encourages the reader to quickly flip through and makes the task of reading a whole book a lot less daunting to a novice reader. The text is of a good size, and even on the pages where the whole page is filled with text, it is not overwhelming to any degree because the sentences are usually very short and they are filled with a good amount of speech. This story is not massively over complicated but it is slightly compelling for a child as they always want to find out what becomes of Mr Chatterbox - no cliff hangers here, just a classic simple read.
Each story has a small moral attatched to it. In this case everyone is well and truly fed up with Mr Chatterbox talking so much and so giving him a hat that inevitably shuts him up sounds ideal. I bet we all know someone who we would like to give such a hat to! Imagine just putting something over someone's head who was getting on your nerves and walking away! Genius and more than tempting on many occasions in my experience!
I think that this book is perfect for all ages, but especially to a new reader, aged four or five. This book is also perfect to read as a bedtime story as it can be read by an adult in a few minutes - ten if it is strung out slightly and discussed, and if it is too short you can always read the next book in the series. It is possible to read this book over and over again, and in our experience, it is always just as entertaining. I cannot help but have the voice of Arthur Lowe (of Dads Army fame) in my head as I read this book and all of the others because he read the voice over so well in the animated series that is so much a part of my childhood. Of course the series has been updated for the current generation and jazzed up significantly, but it is nowhere near as good in my opinion.
So, if you haven't read a Mr Man book, and I find that very hard to believe, Mr Chatterbox is as good a place as any to start, but remember: keep it under your hat!
ISBN 978-0-7498-5201-6
www.mrmen.com
First published in 1976
Written by Roger Hargreaves
Availability: All good (and bad) bookshops, high street stores, internet and boot sales! Expect to pay a maximum of £1.99 for a new copy.
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Mr. Men Library: Mr. Nonsense - Roger Hargreaves
by xd-o-n-z-x
Everyone remembers the Mr Men and Little Miss books right? Well they were my favourite as a child! Today I will be reviewing one of the Mr Men books which I recently read to my two small cousins (aged 4 and 6).
My Cousins love the Mr Mens and Little Misses books. Everytime they want me to read them a story, you can guarantee ... that it will almost always be a Mr Men or Little Misses book. Today, I will be reviewing one of our latest reads.
The book is very short; which means that it is perfect for younger children. At just 32 pages long, it is just the right length to keep them entertained without getting 'fidgety'. Of course, this is the kind of story that children will want to be read over and over again; I had to read this three times to my cousins; thankfully it is such a short story!
~ * The Plot * ~
Meet Mr Nonsense! He is a very silly character and says silly things! Follow him on his journey as he goes around being silly!
I have to admit this isn't my favourite book in the Mr Men serious; my cousins enjoy this one. They think it's funny when he goes around saying things like 'silly banana'.
I think that Mr Nonsense sends out a good message to children, that you should have fun and shouldn't take everything so seriously.
The language is simple and easy to understand. Children who are learning to read will also enjoy these books; the majority of the text consists of a short sentence per page. My six year old cousin was happy to read along with me, whilst my younger cousin was quite happy to sit and listen; she especially found the book to be very funny.
There are also lots of pictures which help explain the story to younger ones and help them imagine the story. I also think that this book is great at teaching children new words and by the end of this book they will certainly know what the word nonsense means (I actually thought that it might be quite a difficult word to understand for little ones.. I would say that this book is very educational. My oldest cousin has now picked up a new saying after reading this book which is 'stop talking nonsense!'.
I think that this book would make a great stocking filler this Christmas.
Thanks for reading!
December 2011
xdonzx / xd-o-n-z-x
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