Even the Trunchbull

(CN: Discussion of dementia and memory loss)

This week we’re reading books linked by themes of dementia and memory.

Our chapter book is Moominvalley in November, by Tove Jansson, the last in the Moomins series, which sees various characters returning to Moominvalley, trying to remember and forget in turn, in the absence of the Moomin family

Our picture book is The Remember Balloons by Jessie Oliveros, illustrated by Dana Wulfekotte, which draws a beautifully simple metaphor for dementia.

We have our first special guest this week – Dave Pickering is an aficionado on all things Moomins. He also explores dementia in his podcast Down to a Sunless Sea, in which he documents a series of conversations with his father living with dementia.

You can find Down to a Sunless Sea here - directory.libsyn.com/shows/view/id/downtoasunlesssea

Dave has also created many other podcasts and projects – find out more at http://davepickeringstoryteller.co.uk/

He also contributed to this book for children about masculinity: https://www.waterstones.com/book/what-is-masculinity-why-does-it-matter-and-other-big-questions/jeffrey-boakye/darren-chetty/9781526308146

You can find Dave on Twitter @goosefat101

What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

(CN: Discussion of anti-black racism, violence, slavery and guns during the chapter book section. If you want to skip ahead to our picture book section, start at 27 minutes)

This week we’re reading books that feature dinosaurs!

Our chapter book is Dactyl Hill Squad by Daniel José Older, which blends historical fiction and fantasy as we follow the adventures a gang of kids from the Coloured Orphan Asylum in 1863 New York, but in a world inhabited by both people and dinosaurs.

Our picture book is Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs, as retold by Mo Willems – classic Goldilocks story but, again, with dinosaurs, as well as a healthy dose of wry sarcasm, which we’ve got plenty time for.

Write or Die Podcast has a great episode with Daniel Jose Older talking about overcoming institutional rejection in the publishing industry and getting started in writing here - https://writeordiepodcast.com/2018/04/20/episode-one-daniel-jose-older-the-actual-motherfing-biggest-childrens-publisher-in-the-galaxy/

If you like the sound of Dactyl Hill Squad, it is Book 1 of a trilogy: sequels ‘Freedom Fire’ and ‘Thunder Run’ are now available. There’s a tantalising review of ‘Freedom Fire’ here - https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/daniel-jose-older/freedom-fire/

Lovely interview with Mo Willems here, about breaking the rules in writing, drawing and reading to your kids, with lots of offshoot links, from Playing by the Book - http://www.playingbythebook.net/2013/04/01/an-interview-with-mo-willems/

Mo regularly Tweets interviews, doodles and other content @The_Pigeon

What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

[CN: war, death, bombs, destruction, trench warfare]

This week we're reading books about war, and about building peace. Our chapter book is Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo, beloved by Matt and Nina since they were 11, and the General by Janet Charters, which we'd never read before, and is a fascinating look at 1960s pacifism and at Michael Foreman's earliest published illustrations.

There's a lot of further reading for those of you that want it this week. Our resident history nerd Matt recommends these interviews with Mr Morpurgo (our content note extends to these, and also they contain spoilers):

http://www.filmeducation.org/privatepeaceful/pdf/MICHAEL%20MORPURGO%20Interview%20Transcript.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S3fp8Tqn5E&ab_channel=HarperCollinsChildren%27sBooks

And Nina, who took the lead on the research into The General and Michael Foreman (we couldn't find much at all about Janet Charters, sadly), recommends these:

https://writewyattuk.com/2016/10/20/drawing-from-experience-the-michael-foreman-interview/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLF-ENtMp5o&ab_channel=Culture24videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePRDc_Gozjk&ab_channel=Culture24videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8axwRLbi58&ab_channel=Culture24videos

What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

(CN: discussion of an Asian child's experience of racism in school during the section about the picture book)

We're back in time for the new school year, our pencils are sharpened and our backpacks are heavy with a new season's books!

Our picture book this week is Sumi's First Day of School Ever by Soyung Pak and illustrated by Joung Un Kim. We talk about how scary it can be to start a new school, especially in a new country, and how drawing can be a bridge between people even in the absence of a common language.

Our chapter book is the rip-roaring Last Last-Day-Of-Summer by Lamar Giles. We loved this sci-fi time travel romp and we think you will too!

Lamar Giles' new book, the Last Mirror on the Left, is available to pre-order now: https://www.lamargiles.com/pre-order-the-last-mirror-on-the-left

The podcast we mentioned at the end of the episode is Down to a Sunless Sea by Dave Pickering, which can be found here: http://downtoasunlesspod.com/

What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

To wrap up a series where we've been talking about book to film adaptations made in 1996, we're watching Matilda and chatting along. There's some little easter eggs pointed out by Nina, and a couple of last ditch attempts by Matt to get us to watch The Wind in the Willows.

ETTB will be back in September, so enjoy the rest of your summer!

Love from Nina and Matt

What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

To wrap this series up, we're reading about little girls with superpowers!

See Aviaq Johnston talking about writing and identity here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29sFN6ESUAw

And if you liked the sound of the Trunchbull's chocolate cake, EmmyMadeInJapan recreated it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hy8934KlKY

Chech out that episode of Next Door Villain about Miss Trunchbull: https://nextdoorvillain.libsyn.com/miss-trunchbull

What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

It's taken us a series and a half, but we've got our first poo book! Nina is keener on this German cracker than Matt is. We talk about the translation, about the illustrations, and the choice to give some animals glasses but none of them trousers.

Then there's book versus adaptation chat, a lot of class chat, a look at the link between nature writing and small-c conservatism, a close read of our favourite chapters and, surprisingly, very little mention of Mister Toad.

What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com.

So much to say about puppets! The picture book, Revenge of the Puppets by Nadine D'Souza and illustrated by Ayush Rajvanshi, gave us lots to link to:

Here's a great video of a kathputli puppet doing a dance:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=WuohEEPQJZ0

Here's that stop motion animation by Lesley-Ann Rose that Matt was talking about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtPBPa_iVn8&t=1s

And Karadi Tales has lots of free stuff up for kids in lockdown right now: https://www.karaditales.com/kathawithkaradi/

Michael Morpurgo's retelling of Pinocchio generated no links, but it did inspire a very loving discussion.

What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com.

Welcome back to series 2! We're starting off with our longest and silliest episode yet, full of metaphysical debate, high and low swooshes and a tasteful description of a giraffe's bum.

You can see the app version of Il Sung Na's A Book of Sleep here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oiTYP9B7iw&app=desktop

Starlight Barking should be in all good libraries, but if it's not, get yourself a second hand copy from your favourite bookshop.

What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com.

Series 1 of ETTB is over and it's been so lovely! To keep youse going until series 2 (due on the 18th of June), we've put together a little quickfire round of reviews, and you now have the chance to win all the titles we talk about in this episode! For reference, the books are:

Father Bear Comes Home by Else Holmelund Minarik and Maurice Sendak

The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr

The Day of the Dreader by Cressida Cowell

The thing that bothered Farmer Brown by Teri Sloat

Melvin’s Cold Feet by Linda Crust and John Brindle

Papas Spaghetti by Joy Cowley and Marie Low

I want my dinner by Tony Ross

Space Tortoise by Ross Montgomery and David Litchfield

Stories of Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne

Giants and the Joneses by Julia Donaldson

All you've got to do to be in with a chance to win them is to write us a review on Apple Podcasts or on Twitter (tag us in @TrunchbullPod to make sure we see it).

Until next season, love from Matt and Nina

What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com.

Additional sound effects from https://www.freesoundslibrary.com/