I borrowed a couple of new books at work last week & I think they're so funny & true & beautifully done that I wanted to share them. Nikki McClure's
How To Be A Cat is one of the loveliest picture books I've seen in ages & I buy picture books as part of my job so I see a lot of them.
Black & white drawings with a splash of blue. One word per page. There's no story as such, it's about a kitten watching his mother & learning the skills he will need to be a cat.
This book is for anyone who loves cats. You don't need to be three years old to see the truth in the observation of the cats that's gone into creating this book. I make no comment on this picture at all but there are days when I feel I do nothing but open doors for Lucky & Phoebe.
The other book is by Jen Campbell. A few years ago she published a book called
Weird Things Customers Say In Bookshops. It was exactly that. A collection of weird, wonderful, mad, funny, incomprehensible things that customers or patrons say when they walk into your bookshop or library. Jen works at the Ripping Yarns Bookshop in London & began collecting the odd things people said. The idea grew into the book & other booksellers & librarians began sending in their own examples. Now, she's published the sequel
More Weird Things Customers Say In Bookshops. Jen has a
blog where she talks about her books, her poetry & more weird things that have come her way. Here are just a few of my favourite weird things from this latest book.
Customer: Pride and Prejudice
was published a long time ago, right?
Bookseller: Yep.
Customer: I thought so. Colin Firth's looking really good for his age, then.
Customer: I don't like biographies. The main character pretty much always dies in the end. It's so predictable.
Customer: Can you recommend a book of spells to raise pets from the dead?
Bookseller:...
Customer: Just animals, you understand - not people. I don't want my husband coming back.
If you laughed at any or all of those examples, you will enjoy this book. The line drawings throughout are by The Brothers McLeod.
