Day 51 and we read The Terrible Underpants which is a story about a kid whose good underpants are all in the wash and the only ones left are what my husband calls "The B Team". Then, of course, what happens is that everyone manages to see them and comment on them. As a literal story, I had a lot of problems with this one, as it seemed illogical ... if you know you're wearing the horrible underpants and are concerned about people seeing them, why wear a dress? And then play on the monkey bars? And the ending seemed to invalidate the whole thing. I know it's a kid's story, but I think it still matters - I'm bothered by stuff like that. I know, I know. I should probably let it go.
However, reading around on Goodreads, many people view it as an analogy for anything embarassing about yourself on display, and point out that the girl in the story (Wanda-Linda) has a healthy attitude about it, not being ruffled by others' comments. Fair enough. Fail for me on deeper comprehension on that one. While I like this interpretation better than the literal one, it's not my favourite story, but I do like Kaz Cooke a fair bit (there's some history involving her speaking at my school camp - at least, I think it was her. A few members of my class have been debating whether it was or not and we can't quite remember. I think it was). Anyway, I'll give it another go when Master A is a bit older.
Master A's verdict: Looked at the pictures a bit, but it's prose so he's less interested in the words.
Details:
- Title: The Terrible Underpants
- Author/Illustrator: Kaz Cooke
- Source: In home library
- Publisher: Penguin
What's on tomorrow? another library pick.
Day 60. Completing a Lynley Dodd trifecta, today we read Scarface Claw. A high quality story like all the others in the series, I think I still prefer the feline exploits of Slinki Malinki. But as anti-heroes go, Scarface isn't bad. The rhymes are elegant and expressive, easy to read aloud with excellent illustrations.
