| Product: |
Mr. Men Collection: Volume 1 - Roger Hargreaves |
| Date: |
22/09/02 (180 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: cute characters, good stories, nice cheerful pictures
Disadvantages: none really
Little Miss KarenUK had an opinion on everything.
She was always sniffing soaps, studying shower gels and comparing the prices of shampoos.
Little Miss KarenUK was the sort of person who, when presented with her nicely wrapped-up birthday gifts, would write an opinion on the benefits of one wrapping paper over another and the pros and cons of silver ribbons.
Little Miss KarenUK was the sort of person who, if taken out to see a play, would be sat there in the front row with a notebook, to ensure her review was accurate. This unnerved some seasoned performers, who were regularly seen mouthing obscenities in her general direction.
Little Miss KarenUK was the sort of person who, if invited out for a meal, would be asking pertinent questions of the restaurant staff in order to rate the cleanliness and general behind-the-scenes atmosphere of the establishment.
Naturally, as you might well imagine, Little Miss KarenUK was treated as a bit of a weirdo.
People did not like the way in which Little Miss KarenUK went around with a pen and pad in her hands constantly.
This made people nervous. They felt as if they were being interviewed and assessed. Which they were.
While others discussed the weather, Little Miss KarenUK wanted to know which conditioner they used or how good they rated their newspaper of choice on a scale of one to five stars.
Sadly, Little Miss KarenUK was driven out of town. But don’t worry, this is not a sad story for long.
She found a wonderful place to live called Opinionland. This was a big place with lots of houses of all kinds, each with a one to five star rating outside the front door.
When she stepped inside her new home, it seemed like a dream come true. The kitchen was stocked with twenty-three different pasta sauces, thirty bottles of wine, ten types of tea and – the piece de resistance – a freezer full of expensive brand na
me ice cream.
Each room held similar delights. The bathroom contained a cupboard full of a wide variety of soft toilet tissue (and a pack of that rough stuff from school days, so she wouldn’t get too complacent), a long silver tray filled with the finest soaps (except for one that looked like cat vomit) and the side of the bath was laden with numerous sorts of fruity shower gels.
Of course, in Opinionland, you don’t get owt for nowt. She had to work for her house and its belongings. She had to review everything, all the time, day after day.
Little Miss KarenUK wrote about her soaps, her shower gels, and her ice creams until one day, she couldn’t write any more. She sat down and cried, worried that she would never ever be able to write again.
That night, there was a knock at the door. She wiped her eyes and opened her front door (painted purple, of course). No one was there. But there was a parcel.
She took it inside and sipping her forty-fourth cup of tea, she unwrapped it. On the top of the box were the words ‘To Review – Or Not’.
Inside was a set of books. They were small books and therefore cheap to buy. Thy were square shaped, soft and bendy and easy for young hands to hold.
They were only a few pages long but containing a story. They were obviously aimed at children, but the stories were fun for adults to read too.
There was a page of a paragraph or three, then a picture filled with a simple line drawing of endearing characters and basically drawn houses in primary colours. The pictures were bright and cheerful. The characters were exaggerated, but recognisable.
Little Miss KarenUK read and read and read, until it was quite dark.
She read about a man with a long nose, who involved himself in other people’s business far too often.
She read about a man with a big yellow face who was always smiling.
She read abou
t a cheeky little man with a pink hat and a blue nose who was always up to tricks.
She read about a man with a green hat who never stopped talking.
She read about a man who kept doing funny things, who lived in a very impractical shaped house.
After she finished reading, Little Miss KarenUK looked at the back of the books and saw little pictures of the forty or so little characters in the books. They did make her chuckle. Such a simple idea, but effective.
She could see these sorts of books would have an enduring charm that could be passed on through generations. She could almost remember watching these books become a television series and envisage buying the books for her own children.
Reading through the stories again, she realised that each one held a little tale with a moral - A good heart and kind soul is more important than any outwardly strange peculiarities… Gossiping is often hurtful… Practical jokes are not funny if the victim isn’t laughing… Smiling makes you feel happier… Poking your nose in things that don’t concern you can leave you with a very bizarre looking nasal bandage…
She enjoyed the books. She liked the stories, which had more depth to them than on first appearance. She liked the pictures, which were simple, bright and often funny. She had practised the smiling thing and discovered it did help after all.
Without thinking, Little Miss KarenUK picked up her pen and notepad and started writing.
Another thing she had noticed about the books was that they always had a happy ending.
Just like this one.
Summary:
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