Tuesday 11 April 2017

Splat! by Jon Burgerman (Oxford Children's Books)

Like a book-shaped food fight, a slapstick classic, here's the brilliant "Splat!" by Jon Burgerman....
We love books that play with the physical boundaries of the picture book format for great comedic effect.

You may remember Jean Jullien's fabulous "This Is Not a Book" which was utterly fantastic, and more of a toy than an actual book to read.

In Jon Burgerman's "Splat" a very much maligned and misunderstood little creature suffers the indignity of having a series of horrible squishy things crammed into its face - by none other than YOU as you turn each page.

Just when you think things are going to be OK (when a troop of friendly fuzzy birds turn up), things go from bad to worse.

But of course, we just couldn't help ourselves, we just had to keep turning pages until the bitter end - when the poor creature is so covered in goop it's barely recognisable.

Kids are going to love this - Charlotte certainly did, unleashing her slightly cruel streak and making appropriate sound effects with each SPLAT!

Fab stuff from a hugely inventive and original author-illustrator.

"Splat!" by Jon Burgerman is out now, published by Oxford Children's Books / OUP.