There is a Monster on My Holiday Who Farts

There is a Monster on My Holiday Who Farts by Tim Miller, illustrated by Matt Stanton (ABC Books) HB RRP $24.99   ISBN 978-0-733334-65-8

Reviewed by Karen Hendriks

The Monster who Farts is back, so get your passports ready for some hilarious fun!  This story is cleverly written and illustrated for children, and might I say adults, too.  Co-creators, Tim Millar and Matt Stanton, not only know their young audience well, but their approach is fresh and original. 

A family trip around the world: who could possibly be the unexpected, extra passenger? A farting monster of course! This embarrassing problem becomes obvious when on the plane to the first stop, Japan, there’s unexpected turbulence. The reader is left guessing.  Is the farting monster responsible or is it someone else?

The colorful illustrations with comical facial expressions and gassy puffs entertain and delight, but also add cheeky fun to complement the text.  For example, the Mona Lisa’s smirk is turned to a look of smelly distaste.  The author and illustrator tango dance together briskly to tell this fart tale.

The reader travels with the family from country to country, and points of interest in the simple text provides extra fun. For example, ‘The Leaning Tower of Pisa finally topples -- ‘because there’s a monster on my holiday who farts.’

Subjects such as family, travel, culture and geography make this story so much more than a just simple fart tale.  This is one of those books that a child will want to visit again and again, as laughter really does make the world go around.

Mademoiselle Lisa

Mademoiselle Lisa by Delphine Perret (black dog books)
HB RRP $14.99
ISBN 9781742031620
Reviewed by Vicki Stanton

Mademoiselle Lisa wins my prize for quirky in 2010. It is so unique that it is hard to pinpoint who the target audience is. Maybe it is everyone, for the book works on so many levels that everyone would find something of interest or amusement in it.

Mademoiselle Lisa is based on the best known of all portraits Mona Lisa, who finds that she is ready for a change. She skips on out (and who hasn't felt like that from time-to-time) and after selling mini-photos of herself, she is able to experience some of the pleasures of life like a LBT (I have to agree totally with her there!) and give herself a makeover with a new cut and colour, bag and boots. You go Girl!

Mademoiselle Lisa follows her whims ultimately heading to Las Vegas, hits the jackpot and sets up a whole new life. There, she meets Sally who 'had always dreamt of being someone else' and so permanently and happily takes on Lisa's old role at the Louvre. Lisa wiles away her time, living next door to her handsome neighbour who has an uncanny likeness to the Titian's painting of Man with a glove!

Perret's illustrations are just as quirky as the text with a combination of line drawings and photography with the occasional patch of dotted colour. I highly recommend Mademoiselle Lisa and it would make the perfect gift for art lovers with everything. They certainly won't have anything like this!