| Product: |
Dr. Xargle's Book of Earthlets - Jeanne Willis |
| Date: |
25/03/06 (218 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Fun way to look at what babies are like
Disadvantages: Some under 5's may not be as impressed as you.
***Background***
Dr Xargle’s Book Of Earthlets, is said to be translated in human speech by Jeanne Willis and has pictures drawn by Tony Ross. It was first published in 1988 so this is another book that has been around for quite some time. This version was published in 2002 by Andersen Press Ltd who also publish the Little Princess series of books, written and illustrated by Tony Ross. Jeanne Willis has written a whole series of Dr Xargle books that tell the story of how a group of aliens learn about earthlets or children and their behaviour. As well as this series she has also written many other books as well as TV scripts for Polly Pocket.
***The Story***
In this first of the series the aliens start by learning about babies and how they come in four colours – pink, brown, black and yellow. Dr Xargle also explains that these earthlets have only two eyes instead of the normal five and that their two short tentacles have pheelers on the ends and the two longer tentacles are called leggies.
As we move through the book we learn that earthlets like to frighten wild beasts called Tibbles and Marmaduke – that’s the cats for anyone who hasn’t guessed yet – and they only have fur on their heads so need their very old earthlings or grannies to make wrappers from unravelling the sheep.
Born with no fangs they have to drink milk and must be patted afterwards to stop them exploding. Once fangs appear eggs are mixed up and fed into the Earthlet’s mouth, nose and ears.
To stop them leaking they have to be wrapped in a fluffy triangle although this doesn’t stop them getting dirty as the collect cat hairs, mud, eggmangle and banana. I’m sure that sounds familiar to anyone who has a toddler.
Bathtime follows and then they must be dried to prevent shrinking apparently before having dust sprinkled all over them.
We are then shown how when earthlets cry the daddy tries to amuse them by throwing them in the air although sometimes drops them on the cat below. Mummy prefers to play This Little Piggy with their pheelers.
At the end of the day the earthlets are sent to beddybyes where they are swung in a box with a soft lining where teddy lives.
The lesson then ends and the aliens put on disguises so they can visit Earth and see for themselves how earthlets behave.
***The Illustrations***
The pictures in this book really make me laugh as we see what aliens would perceive us to be like. Simple is the name of the game here although the expressions on the faces of the cats whilst they are being picked on and the baby’s chubby face are fantastic. Tony Ross has done fantastically well with this series as in all his other books.
***My Thoughts***
The first time I came across Dr Xargle was in the form of a free book accompanying a sample of Dry Nites Pyjama Pants and it told the story of how earthlets sometimes waken up in a puddle and how many of their friends might do this too. I was very impressed as I was toilet training my son at the time and it really helped take the pressure off him even though I didn’t actually use the sample.
This book is very clever and I really expected my son to enjoy it, so when we saw it in the library it was me who suggested to him that we take it home to read. Unfortunately, this hasn’t turned out to be one of my better suggestions, as he hasn’t really asked us to help read it to him very often since we got it. This is quite unusual for him but it obviously hasn’t gone with his tastes.
I personally thought the book was funny and explained how strange and amusing human babies must be to an alien. The illustration of the baby falling on top of the cat is brilliant and I suppose this is every parent’s nightmare scenario. I also liked the picture of the baby being fed and how difficult it can be when your little darling keeps turning away at the crucial moment of the spoon approaching his mouth.
My favourite part though is the thought that grannies everywhere find a sheep and unwind them until they have enough wool to make clothes for their grandchildren. The picture shown is that of a granny with knitting needles moving furiously as she watches television. The picture of the baby wrapped in the hairdo of a sheep does make me laugh.
So all in all I think I enjoyed this book much more than my son. Maybe he is just a little bit young to appreciate the humour.
***Other Titles In The Dr Xargle Series***
Dr Xargles’s Book Of Earth Tiggers
Dr Xargles’s Book Of Earth Hounds
Dr Xargles’s Book Of Earth Mobiles
Dr Xargles’s Book Of Earth Weather
Dr Xargles’s Book Of Earth Relations
***Other Info***
The retail price for this paperback book is £4.99 but you can get it for £3.74 from Tesco. It is also available in the form of a small board book too.
ISBN No. 1842700677
Summary: Funny book about how aliens perceive us.
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Last comment:
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katygriff - 27/03/06 I would have loved this when i was little. x |
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