Read all about it (Good news! Bad news! - Colin McNaughton)

Member Name: juicy_lucy

Product:	Good news! Bad news! - Colin McNaughton
Date:	22/11/06 (153 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fast paced

Disadvantages: Too fast paced for younger children

Good news! Bad news!

An amusing book, following a day in the life of a little boy who obviously has a vivid imagination!

~~Story and Illustrations~~

Each page or double page has a good and a bad news feature, starting when the little boy wakes up and realises that the good news is that it’s a beautiful day, but the bad news is that it’s a school day. His imagination runs away with him at the point when he realises that he has the day off (good news) but he has a dental appointment (bad news). So…we now know he doesn’t like school or dentists!!

He gets rescued from the girls (hooray!) by aliens (boo!) who happen to be friendly, but let him go without a parachute. He lands on something soft which just happens to be a big friendly monster, who gets chased by a herd of elephants who are in turn chased off by a Tyrannosaurus rex. He is saved by a witch and jumps off the broomstick, landing right on his dentist’s head. He’s not hurt, but the boy is in time for his appointment. The treatment doesn’t hurt but the dentist turns out to be Count Dracula.

All that adventure and we end up back in bed where he lands when he escapes and the bad news? There is no more bad news. Fangtastic. Children will notice at this point that he is lying in bed and has fangs!!

Phew!! The text and illustrations are really quick moving, and the font changes depending on the severity of the situation. There are speech bubbles, so we get a feeling for what’s going on, and the text follows a format whereby we have “Good news!”, followed by a brief explanation, then “Hooray!”, then we have “Bad news!”, explanation “Boo!” This helps children to predict what will happen and think of their own ideas of what the good and bad news could be. I challenge them to think of something more unusual than this little boy’s wild imaginings!

The illustrations themselves are often cartoon style, and are colourful and amusing with lots of detail.

~~Who is it for~~

I have read this to children from about the age of 6, because I don’t think younger children would necessarily enjoy the pace at which it moves, and it could all get a tad confusing for them.

~~Other books by the same author~~

Colin McNaughton has written and illustrated many children’s books, and the style is usually fast paced with interesting and quite quirky illustrations.

Jolly Roger
Who’s been Sleeping in My Porridge?
Help!
There’s an Awful lot of weirdos in our neighbourhood
Watch out for the Giant-Killers!
Watch out for the Seals!

Even the titles of some of the books gives you an idea of the kind of style in which he writes.

~~Other bits of information~~

Published: 2001

Publisher: Collins

ISBN: 0-00198418-7

~~What I think of it~~

For children who enjoy fast moving amusing books, this is great. There is a definite link to writing newspapers, and we have looked at headlines after reading it, and made up headlines for some of the weird and wonderful things which happen to him.

The repetition is good for encouraging creative writing and children enjoy making up their own good news! Bad news! Stories.

All of the illustrations appeal to children, and they tend to find lots of detail, including the fangs at the end. It’s not scary fangs though, as he is smiling, and children tend to think it was all a dream, and he has pretend fangs in his mouth to scare his mum, who has just appeared in the doorway.

A fun book to read together.

Thanks for reading.

Daniela xx

Summary: A fun book...we are looking at a child with a wild imagination!