Wild and Wacky (Picture Book Roundup)

I’ve been home sick this weekend with a sore throat and a bad cold. I’ve been getting raging headaches and have been sneezing incessantly so I haven’t been able to read anything full-length, but picture books have always made good bedside reading for me, hence this picture book roundup.

In today’s lineup are: A Day With Wilbur Robinson, Guild Geniuses, Pignapped, The Hair Scare, Klutz, The Lady with the Ship on her Head, Flotsam, and Swine Lake — books #155-162 for 2010

I hope this flu passes soon, I’ve got a lot to read for November!

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Last Order sa Penguin

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A couple of years ago, some friends of mine were raving about the University of the Philippines Press publication Last Order Sa Penguin by Chris Martinez (book #113 for 2009, #19 for the Diversity Challenge – Filipino), containing the script of a play with the same title.

I don’t read a lot of plays because I prefer prose, but I was in the mood for a short, light read so I picked up this book.

Last Order Sa Penguin (roughly translated for the benefit of my international  readers: Last Order at the Penguin Cafe) is a two-act play about five friends nearing their thirties: the cheerfully gay Tuxqs, the problematic Harlene, the sex addict Tess, the social climbing Dyna, and the druggie Mario, who all meet up at the Penguin Cafe in Malate.

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The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke

The Thief Lord opens in a detective’s office in Venice, where the horrible Hartliebs are engaging the services of private detective Victor Getz to find their two runaway nephews Bo and Prosper. The Hartliebs want to adopt Bo and send Prosper off to boarding school, but the brothers do not want to be separated so they run off to Venice.

In Venice, Bo and Prosper hook up with a feisty runaway girl named hornet, the hulky Mosca, the mischievous spiky-haired pickpocket Riccio, and Scipio, the Thief Lord, who takes care of all of them inside an abandoned old theater.

The plot thickens when a crooked antique dealer enlists the gang for a special mission, and Victor Getz is hot on their heels.

I’ve never read Cornelia Funke before, but I’d have to say that The Thief Lord is one of the best children’s books I have read. Since Cornelia Funke is German, it’s translated into English by Oliver Latsch, but I think it was an excellent translation because nothing seems to be awkward or vague.

It’s such a charming book with such endearing characters you can’t help but like it. It’s very Dickensian, sort of like Oliver Twist, with a bit of magic thrown in, and a whole lot funnier.

The book brings out the sights and sounds of Venice, and the description is so vivid that you can actually imagine you’re right there with the characters.

As books go, it’s not pretentious or ambitious, nothing groundbreaking, but it’s got a very classic feel to it, like it makes you feel good just reading it. You know, the sort of book that makes you want to live, because there’s such goodness in the world (haha, now where did that come from?) Just a beautifully written and exciting feel-good story.

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Saw the movie recently and it’s an excellent adaptation, with unknown actors and excellent Venice scenery!

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My copy: trade paperback upgraded into a hardcover with dustjacket, bought at Books for Less

My rating: 5/5 stars

My Father Had A Daughter by Grace Tiffany

My Father Had A Daughter is a wonderfully inventive fictionalized memoir of Judith, William Shakespeare’s daughter.

Since they were young, Judith and her twin brother Hamnet, have been in awe of their father, who told them stories about fairy queens and the playhouses in London. Judith and Hamnet are inseparable, and have a world no one else understands (Hamnet and Judy playing A Midsummer Nights’ dream evoked memories of our 6th grade play in St. Scho)… But tragedy strikes as Hamnet accidentally drowns In a fantastic game Judith creates out of her wild imagination, and Judith is stricken with grief.

One day, Judith uncovers a new play in her father’s wastepapers — Twelfth Night, which to her horror uses her grief as a springboard for the plot. Enraged, Judith decides to storm off to London to sabotage her father’s play, under the guise of street urchin Castor Popworthy, and she rediscovers her theatrical self.

I liked this book because it was charming, and Judith Shakespeare seemed to really come to life. The earlier parts of the book, when Hamnet was still alive, reminds me of The Thirteenth Tale and its concept of “twin-ness,” and how a twin is never the same once “untwinned.”

The highlight of the novel is when the spunky Judith becomes a girl acting as a boy acting as a girl right under her father’s nose — The whole London adventure was hilarious!

It’s also great how Judith’s relationship with her parents evolved, how she gained respect and affection for her mother, and how her relationship with her father evolved from hero worship, to disillusion, to finally, an understanding of her father’s character.

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My copy: a well-worn trade paperback bought at Book Sale (P70)

My rating: 4/5 stars

photo courtesy of Barnes and Noble (http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/18690000/18696089.JPG)