What can we say about "Topsy Turvy World" by Atak.

Funny?

Hilarious?

I got C to sit alongside me while I was typing this one up as this is one of her favourite books of all time, yet it's one we have a slight difference of opinion on. She loves it, I mean really loves it - to the point where even though she has spent hour after hour looking at all the surreal little details Atak works into his artwork, she still finds new things to make her giggle.

The premise of the book is flipping the roles of various creatures, characters and 'things' so that they're - well - topsy-turvy. As you can see from the cover image of a clown jumping through a fiery hoop while the lion holds it up (rather than the other way round) you're in for a bit of a strange acid-trip of a picture book where nothing is quite as it seems. I can't really describe it, it's probably just better to show you some of the spreads inside.

Hunted becomes hunter!

As you can see, the images are painted in a crazy trippy style that's almost child-like but still rammed to the gills with tons of detail.

Wait, what the heck is going on with that goat?

Some spreads just leave you thinking "What the heck am I actually seeing here?"

C's own favourite spread just has her cackling like a drain every time she sees it...

You can understand the appeal of this one for tinies seeing the tables turned on mum

Every time we have a massive book clearout, C's mum will pull this one out for the disposal pile and there will be a massive tantrum about getting rid of it. So it's in our keepers. I have a strange love hate relationship with it myself, not really understanding why I like it at times I find myself lost in gazing at the weird imagery and smiling to myself about the various famous characters and art references that crop up in some of the pictures.

It's quite frankly topsy turvy but if your kids love a good belly laugh at the thought of a world where everything's flipped on its head and roles are interchanged, they'll love it to bits.

Original Review Link:

Topsy Turvy World by Atak (Flying Eye Books)

German Illustrator Atak must've heard one of Charlotte's favourite nursery rhymes at some point before this book was designed...

"In Upsy Down Town, the sky's the sea
The Rabbit's in a nest where the bird should be
The rain falls up instead of down...Down in Upsy Down Town!"

In boldly coloured surreal style Atak has painted scenes depicting the sort of things you'll hear about in that very song. Scenes where jungle animals shiver and shake in arctic surroundings, or penguins and polar bears sweat in the heat of a tropical jungle. Atak's referential paintings often cheekily borrow characters your children will be able to easily identify, along with a whole zoo of animals, and human characters that are as crazy and colourful as their animal counterparts.

I was interested to see what Charlotte's reaction to this book would be. Children have a fairly high expectation of the artwork in children's books and don't always 'get' stylised stuff. For some children though, Atak's artwork feels approachable, imaginative and exactly the sort of thing they love to paint themselves. Pink giraffes - or for that matter multicoloured tadpoles? All of these things and more are allowed in Atak's bizarre world.

It's a book to visit and revisit, as each huge page spread reveals a vignette that in quite a few cases had Charlotte giggling and rolling her eyes in that way children do when they see something that's a little bit crazy. As you'll see below in her favourite bit, one particular spread amused her to no end - in fact it's now become the first page in the book that she zooms to.

Weird, fabulous, surreal and as bonkers as a liquorice hat. We love it!

Charlotte's best bit: The baby in the high chair feeding its mummy "WHO IS WEARING A BIB!"

Daddy's favourite bit: Spotting all the various characters in the 'Superhero head-swap' painting. Awesome!

(Kindly sent to us by Bounce Marketing / Flying Eye Books)