Showing posts with label Preston Pig. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Preston Pig. Show all posts
Wednesday, 30 October 2013
"Boo!" (a Preston Pig Story) by Colin McNaughton (HarperCollins Children's Books)
Posted by
ReadItDaddy
at
October 30, 2013
Labels:
Boo,
Colin McNaughton,
HarperCollins Children's Books,
Preston Pig
We love Preston Pig, in fact Colin McNaughton's "Suddenly" is one of those books that Charlotte latches onto in the library, and always insists we bring home with us - despite us borrowing it so many times.
We hadn't seen "Boo!" before, and though the belly laughs don't come quite as thick and fast as they do in "Suddenly", we loved the classic comic-strip humour in this tale of a rather naughty Preston Pig roaming the neighbourhood, superhero mask fixed firmly to his piggy little face, ready to make mischief amongst characters we've known and loved from the other Preston Pig adventures.
Spooking his teacher, the man who works at the supermarket. Er, swiftly avoiding the wolf's house (probably just as well, considering what the wolf is up to when he passes by). Preston is out for larks and pranking - and no one can stop him.
No one, except perhaps his dad who falls foul of Preston's naughtiness and decides on a plan of action. After all, what use is a good old fashioned scary "Boo!" if you can't "Boo!" someone back!
Colin McNaughton's books are always full of exquisite details, lovely laugh-out-loud moments, and of course that porky essence of misbehaving and fun that children just cannot resist.
Charlotte's best bit: Preston plays a trick on his teacher. What a rotter!
Daddy's Favourite bit: Preston getting one up on the bully. Hooray for Preston!
Monday, 6 August 2012
S.W.A.L.K by Colin McNaughton (Andersen Children's Books)
Posted by
ReadItDaddy
at
August 06, 2012
Labels:
Andersen Children's Books,
Colin McNaughton,
Preston Pig,
S.W.A.L.K
Colin McNaughton's 'Preston Pig' books are firm favourites back at ReadItDaddy Towers, and we hadn't come across 'S.W.A.L.K' so it was a delight to find it in our local library. Preston receives a mysterious letter with S.W.A.L.K written on the back. His mum knows exactly what that means, sealed with a loving kiss, but Preston doesn't realise it's from his sweetheart, the lovely girl he met on holiday. He reads the letter and decides to write back to Max and tell her all about his life.
As ever, the best bits in the Preston Pig books are all the tiny little details and asides that go on in the background (usually involving a rather daft and completely luckless wolf who rather fancies bacon burgers for breakfast, dinner and tea).
It's a sweet little tale that reminds us of the funny stories about Charlotte and her "Prince Charming" at preschool (actually, recently she's switched allegiances from Prince Jacob to Prince George - women eh? Fickle, the lot of 'em). Colin McNaughton's formula works so beautifully once again, we love it.
Charlotte's best bit: Preston painting portraits of Max in art class
Daddy's favourite bit: The wolf bits of course, he's about as successful as Wile E. Coyote (and about as clever).
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Thursday, 18 August 2011
Suddenly...!
Posted by
ReadItDaddy
at
August 18, 2011
Labels:
Andersen Children's Books,
Colin McNaughton,
Preston Pig,
Suddenly
Back home at Maybe Towers, we've got a bit of a problem. A pig, by the name of Merlin, a happy little fellow, is in constant demand by Charlotte. The big problem is that Merlin (the Happy Pig) exists only in my imagination and Charlotte often shouts "Read Merlin!" at inopportune moments. Reading Merlin usually means making something up on the spot, usually a story about Merlin getting his pocket money, buying loads of sweets, not brushing his teeth, getting toothache and then having to visit the dentist the next day.
So it comes as a joy to find that Colin McNaughton's "Preston Pig" books work quite nicely when I sneakily substitute the name Preston for the name Merlin.
So in "Suddenly" we see Preston, er I mean Merlin, going through his normal day. Unbeknownst to him he's being stalked by a rather large, rather scary and rather hungry wolf.
Preston..er Merlin is a lucky chap though and just as you think he's suddenly going to end up as a Wolf-sized entree, he manages to escape by the skin of his teeth.
Colin McNaughton's book is excellent and I look forward to reading more in the Preston Pig series - even if it means that I'll have to do more sneaky character substitution.
Charlotte's best bit - Preston (I mean Merlin) cuddling his mummy.
Daddy's favourite bit - The bully getting his rather nasty comeuppance half way through the book.
Rating: 5 out of 5 - Book of the week
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