Tag Archives: Funny

How To Be A Viking

by Stephen | Leave a comment

Cressida Cowell. Hachette Children’s Group, (32p) ISBN: 9781444982084. Picture Book, read 09/04/25, Paperback ★★★★☆

How To Be A Viking

How To Be A Viking

This is the first ever How To Train Your Dragon book, featuring Hiccup and Stoick the Vast.

Full of great illustrations that really get the feel of the book across strongly, and made me want to re-read How To Train Your Dragon as it’s been a very long time, long before I started reviewing.

One of my favourites was when Hiccup went paddling in the sea and the fish were sticking their tongues out at him.

Always thought there was a Thor/Loki thing going on with Stoick and Old Wrinkly but also a bit of Ragnar/Floki and the pictures here really reinforce both for me.

This is a lovely story all about how Hiccup is full of worry and fears all the way through the book, all of which are belittled by his father as impossible fears as Hiccup is a Viking!

There are songs, whales, crabs, storms, and a young Viking finding his own way through his feelings and fears and saving everyone else in the end, and Stoick admitting that sometimes Vikings get scared.

I received this from Hachette Children’s Group in exchange for an honest review.

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Where Is The Cat?

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Eva Eland. Andersen Press, (32p) ISBN: 9781839131844. Picture Book, read 07/04/25, Paperback ★★★★☆

Where is the Cat?

Where is the Cat?

Cat has a lovely life, playing with his friends, sleeping, having enough to eat, and having lovely times in gentle conversations.

But sometimes there is Suzy.

Suzy is a normal, boisterous toddler and has all the energy of one.

This is not to Cat’s liking.

A lovely little book full of energy which has got great reactions at story time, mainly because the children love playing the game of hide-and-seek looking for where Cat is on the page.

What we find out very clearly is that Cat lives their life very much on their own terms.

Colourful and fun, full of little bits to point out and lots of energy, another story time favourite.

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Sometime I Just WON’T

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Timothy Knapman, Joe Berger. Pan MacMillan, (32p) ISBN: 9781509848607. Picture Book, read 28/03/25, Paperback ★★★★☆

Sometimes I Just Won't

Sometimes I Just Won’t

I think this is going to be another story time favourite, two added to the regular repertoire in one day is always nice.

Full of energy in the writing and the illustrations this begs to be read whilst moving and gesticulating a lot and getting your audience to join in if you can.

There is so much in the pictures that you can bring into the session over and above the words, but the words are wonderfully lyrical and an easy book to read upside down.

All about a young boy who has varying days like the rest and best of us, one day they will want to do things as they are meant to do them and then others, really not.

This is a great book about agency and being unsure, taking control and becoming confident but not just not doing something for the sake of orneriness, though sometimes there is value in being ornery.

and I agree about coats 100%

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Serial Chillers: The Witch in the Wood

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Jennifer Killick, HarperCollins, (256p) ISBN: 9780008720506. read 16/03/25, Ebook ★★★★★

Serial Chillers: The Witch in the Wood

Serial Chillers: The Witch in the Wood

I asked for this as soon as I saw it as I love Jennifer Killick’s Dread Wood and Crater Lake, just the right amount of creep for everyone.

This didn’t disappoint at all, another very creepy, very funny, and well-paced horror for everyone.

Set in the town of Hazard, which a town full of its namesake seemingly, strange happenings, missing people, spooky creatures, a massive sinkhole which devoured the centre of the town, and of course a witch in the woods.

Travis and Zayd get stuck with Seline and Danielle on a school project, Travis and Danielle used to be best friends but Seline is seen as the school power mean girl who makes fun of others and takes control.

The project is to study one of the many unusual phenomena that the town is prone to and Seline chooses Bloody-Eyed Mary, The Witch in the Wood that snatches your eyes if you ever see her.

Seline decides they actually have to visit the witch woods…

This is where it all starts to go oh so wrong, lots of twists and turns, surprises, chases, friendships tested and renewed/born, this turns into a really well-paced thrilling adventure really quickly.

I absolutely love Zayd and was glad there was so much more to him than comic relief.

After the ending to this I’m really looking forward to finding out what happens next in the series as the revelation and how it was revealed was wonderful, with lots of little clues dropped so you could go along with the reveal.

Once more Jennifer mixes creepy with humour so well, really looking forward to the rest of the series, which reminds me I need to finish the Dread Wood series.

I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Snails of the Unexpected

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Terrie Chilvers, Firefly Press, (160p) ISBN: 9781915444882. Middle Grade, NetGalley read 01/03/25, Electronic Format ★★★★☆

Snails of the Unexpected

Snails of the Unexpected

Loved the cover of this so I just had to ask for it, it’s feeling good reading books for younger readers again, quite refreshing.

Fergus and Shelby are a couple of snails who’ve found the good life in the garden they live in as they get treated to lots of different salads and are allowed to eat what they want, including fresh crunchy cucumber!

But there is something afoot in the world of gastropods…

Slug-life is on the rise and the benefits of slugs are being promoted everywhere and Fergus wants to find out why, and they find out more than they were bargaining for.

and oh yes, they both can transform after a puddle they were drinking at got hit by lightning…

Fun little adventure with some great illustrations from Brenda Figueroa supporting the fast-paced story telling.

I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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The World’s Most Atrocious Animals

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Philip Bunting. Frances Lincoln Children’s Books. (80p) ISBN: 9780141371610
The World’s Most Atrocious Animals

The World’s Most Atrocious Animals

Another book I received from NetGalley in exchange for a review.

I’d already read Philip’s Ridiculous Animal book and really enjoyed the sense of fun in it balanced with some great illustrations and thought I would give this a go.

This is a fun book with really lively illustrations of the animals shown, small bite-size sections make it a really easy book to dip in and out of as well.

Each animal is given a feature illustration with lots of silly info around it, sometimes riffing on actual facts related to the animal, sometimes playing with the latin name of the animal “Nom Chompsky’ is a great example of one that is aimed at older readers.

Then alongside each animal is a section with real facts that give a great little snippet of information about the animals, enough to inform and wet your appetite for more.

Another great book from Philip Bunting and Frances Lincoln Children’s Books

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