This may be the perfect read-aloud chapter book. It is terribly funny. There are lots of pictures and they are great (nothing against Quentin Blake, but I suggest sticking with the original illustrator). The characters are a hoot. The candy creativity is off the charts. The author is beautifully off his rocker.
But the best part of all is simply reading it aloud. I had never realized how the language sings.
Author: Roald Dahl
Illustrator: Joseph Schindelman
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Posted in Chapter Books
Tagged Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, food, I read this as a kid, If I Built a Car, Joseph Schindelman, Machines, Quentin Blake, Roald Dahl
I’ve always associated Quentin Blake with his illustrations for Roald Dahl’s books, but Blake has both written and illustrated over thirty books of his own. In his three-book Armitage series, a quirky character reacts to seemingly mundane situations in increasingly unusual ways.
In the Big Wave, the second Armitage book, the title character triumphantly turns a simple surfboard into something more akin to a flotilla, based on repeated discoveries of “what we need here” while waiting for the Big Wave with her faithful dog. In the other Armitage books, Mrs. Armitage seems a bit scattered and disaster prone. But the Big Wave shows Mrs. Armitage at her most creative, competent, and engaging. (Mrs. Armitage, Queen of the Road is also popular in our house; Mrs. Armitage on Wheels is not.)
Author: Quentin Blake
Illustrator: Quentin Blake
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Posted in Picture Books
Tagged Animals, Mrs. Armitage and the Big Wave, mystery reader books, out of print, Quentin Blake, Roald Dahl, series