I never read this as a kid, and found it at a book fair in a 3 for £1 deal, so thought I’d give it a go! Other than know it was about a girl, a pig and a spider, I had zero idea of the plot!
The opening is brutal, given it’s a children’s book – “Where’s Papa going with that axe?” it turns out, he’s off to kill the runt of a litter of pigs born last night. What a start! Well Fern (the girl on the front cover) begs him not to, and raises the pig, Wilbur, on a bottle. Other than this bit at the start, I’d argue Fern is made a bit too much of, the bulk of the story is about Wilbur, Charlotte the spider, and the other animals in the barn, while Fern just starts to take an interest in boys. I’m not sure she deserves to be on the front cover!
One thing I struggled with (and I’m aware this sounds stupid) is that while I was very happy to suspend my disbelief insofar as animals talking is fine, but when, a few times in the book, Wilbur did a backflip, occasionally with a half twist, that seemed a bit ridiculous to me. Yes, I heard myself, ridiculous double standards!
Towards the end of the book there is a very sad moment, *spoiler alert* where Charlotte sadly passes away. There’s a line that’s a proper punch in the stomach as the chapter closes – “No one was with her when she died.” But it’s a children’s book, so it still finishes on a positive and we all end happily.
I’d already heard some of these poems performed when I saw Harry live last year, but was keen to read the rest, and support his work!
When his son was born, he wrote a poem every day for the first 100 days to help remember that time, and this is a book of all of them, some very moving, several funny, it’s a real mix, and enjoyable!
Favourites would include one about taking the opportunity to have dinner with his wife while the baby sleeps, but they only have poppadums and mango chutney, and how to do that quietly so it doesn’t wake him, also one about his first time seeing a horse. There’s also a wonderful one nearer the end about what various celebrities were doing in 1958.
I was leant this book by a friend who loved it. I’d heard the title around for a long time and always meant to get around to reading it somewhen.
Marie-Laure is a French girl who became blind as a child, her father is the locksmith for a massive museum in Paris. When the Naxis invade, they flee to his Uncle’s in Saint Malo, keeping safe something from the museum. Werner is a German orphan, brought up in a mining area with his sister, but he teaches himself to repair radios and transmitters, and ends up in a school for elite military training.
The book alternates between their two stories throughout, as well as jumping from before the war to late in the war and back again. I don’t mind a parallel storyline, and I enjoy a dual perspective, but following both was occasionally a bit much, especially when an occasional third perspective came in!
It’s extremely readable and engaging, you really get a feel for the horrors of the time, especially the stuff in August 1944 during the siege of Saint Malo. There were a handful of Americanisms in the text, which sort of pulled you out of the story for a second, but it wasn’t too often. The only other thing that bothered me was the tiny romance storyline, which to me felt a little shoehorned in, but overall I really enjoyed it.
Next stop will be watching the Netflix adaptation.
Several years ago I worked through the box set of Roald Dahl’s children’s books, and had the best time! Last week I was at a book sale where I found a copy of Revolting Rhymes, which I’d never read, and looked a lot of fun – turns out it was!
The book contains Dahl’s takes on Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Little Red Riding Hood, and the Three Little Pigs. But none of them are quite as you remember them, they have twists, generally much darker, that mean the stories all have different endings to normal, be it beheadings, guns, or becoming as rich as they like, it’s all in rhyme as you’d expect from the title, and a lot of fun!
There’d been a few people online saying people shouldn’t do April Fools this year due to the state of the world, but I’d argue that that’s exactly why we need it, something fun and creative to lift our spirits, and I’m pleased to report, there’s some good stuff out there this year, numbers don’t seem to have reduced at all.
The last couple of days have had so many brands having a laugh at the expense of the great KitKat robbery, (both in the comments on that post, and in their own posts, which have been very enjoyable, but not April fools as such! I’ve had to skirt around a lot of them this morning!
It does feel more and more that there are 2 tiers of these posts these days, those that have put in real thought and come up with something clever and innovative, and those who’ve just launched a new flavour of something. I’ve put it all in this year, but I do thing unless it’s something clever about the new range of perfumes/candles/icecreams, next year they might get omitted, cos this list is LONGGG…
Also, it’s worth pointing out these aren’t in any particular order, just how I stumbled across them, so the quality is mixed throughout, some real gems scattered all the way through.
As per usual, I’m sure I’ll discover more stuff after midday as there’s just too much to cover in 3 hours (and they have flown this morning!), so I’ll post updates at the bottom later if that’s the case.
As has become traditional, there’s a short note under each post incase they delete them later… happy reading 😊
RyanAir actually went early and posted last night that their social media communications were going to become more corporate and professional.
Just what the Dr ordered…we present to you our GIANT DARLIC BREAD Tear 'n' Share! 👽🛸
It may look like it's landed from another world, but one bite in and you'll realise it's been engineered for maximum flavour…available in-store & online from 1st April 🏃 pic.twitter.com/Siqk91SwZH
Muller and Kingsmill collaborate on Crusty Corners…
I’m delighted to announce that this morning I have joined Reform UK. Nigel Farage is a principled politician, and his team are ready for government. pic.twitter.com/buCD3wITPl
Scalextric has today confirmed its involvement in the rollout of Guided Motorway Infrastructure across the UK.
Vehicles will follow fixed lanes using underbody guides, with drivers controlling speed through throttle input. The aim is to improve traffic flow, reduce congestion… pic.twitter.com/1ujgXbTRDx
omg the audience's reaction when Conan made this joke during his Oscars opening monologue
"It's the first time since 2012 that there are no British actors nominated for Best Actor or Best Actress. A British spokesperson said, 'Yeah, well, at least we arrest our pedophiles.'" pic.twitter.com/A2rB49JNLy
In 2021, after 6 years of shopping at my local Sainsbury’s and tracking where I parked each time on a spreadsheet, I completed all 211 parking spots the store had to offer. In 2024 I moved to a new town – and guess what I’ve been busy doing since 🙂 A thread 🧵
ineke.co.uk 