Nonstop Nonsense
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Cover Story
"Our cover picture Holiday traffic on its way to the coast, August 1960' may evoke nostalgia, interest, curiosity or speculation. Whatever the response, if it encourages close looking that is what Penny Marshall had in mind when she selected for Cars (0 356 l 1393 0) in her The Camera as witness series for Macdonald."
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Send to friendNonstop Nonsense
Illustrated by Quentin Blake
An apt title for a book of nonsense this and, like the author's The Birthday Burglar, it is knee deep in awful alliteration. Mediocre verse, but gems of stories in 'When Anna Hung Upside Down', 'The Insect Kingdom that didn't Get Started' and 'Frightening the Monster in Wizard's Hole'. These pithy tales take simple actions and caricature their performers in a clever, benign yet sardonic manner. An original vision and an unsentimental view of human nature: in 'The Insect Kingdom', the spider and the fly resolve to live in mutual harmony whilst danger lurks, yet, when this passes, natural dispositions see all resolves falter (shades of Aesop here); in 'The Monster in Wizard's Hole', the herding instinct is strong, as is human optimism. An acquired taste, to be enjoyed at different levels depending on the individual. Quentin Blake's idiosyncratic illustrations are certainly relevant. For 9-year-olds upwards.
