Morris

You may remember that last October I had to read a shedload of JF/TR books for a Carnegie Kate Greenaway discussion day which I then talked about at great length here. Last year, I enthused muchly on "Millie's Marvellous Hat", the stand-out picture book of the selection for me. This year, I would love to flag up another fabulous picture book, "Morris the Mankiest Monster", written by Giles Andreae and illustrated by Sarah McIntyre. (Hey, she has a fab rocket animation on her splash page just like me. Cool!)

I just love the detail and the use of mixed media in Sarah's illustrations. On one page there's a banjo-playing spider, on another a wheelchair-using flea and on another a caterpillar in wellies. (By the way, Sarah is a keen knitter and often goes to Stitch 'n' Bitch meetings in London at the same venue as my friend Clare. Small world.) It reminds me a bit of David Roberts' work, but with a kind of Japanese twist. Not sure if that's even feasible, but I've said it now so it must be. Here are a few spreads from the book:







This particular page is my favourite:



It reminds me of someone I know who would much rather stay in bed all day with a large cup of coffee and read his comics surrounded by dirty pants, than get up and do something more productive with his time. In fact......

Oh, what's that, Husband Dear? Yes, yes, I'm coming.