Watch out for Muddy Puddles!

Watch out for Muddy Puddles! is the first picture book from Ben Faulks, known to children and parents nationwide as Mr Bloom in the CBeebies show Mr Bloom’s Nursery, which he also created and writes.  It’s the sort of ‘what if’ adventure that children love: what if there are creatures living in puddles? What if that particularly muddy puddle that your dad makes you skirt every day on the way to school contains a crocodile, or a magical hidden world; what if it goes right down and down through the centre of the planet? All these ideas, and more, are explored in a series of lively scenes, each one of which is really the start of a story in itself, and there’s an irresistible momentum to the book as it builds to a silly but satisfyingly (slightly) scary climax. Illustrator Ben Cort, of Aliens Love Underpants fame, is the perfect illustrator partner, and has great fun with the surreal aspects of the story, drawing crocodiles brandishing knives and forks, an enormous rubber ducky with a very convincing wicked glint in its eye and a delightful boatful of little pirates.  Two cross sections are particularly appealing: one allows children to see the world beneath the surface, where three mermen kings are enjoying a game of catch; turn the book sideways and another shows a little boy plunging down through the earth, fossils, Viking remains and the more everyday cans and bottles buried in the earth on either side. The rhyming text falters a little sometimes but it’s still great fun for reading aloud. Both illustrator and author are completely in tune with their audience, and their audience’s view of the world, and this is a book that will be very much enjoyed by children, and indeed adults too.