Even the Trunchbull

This month, our (belated - sorry!) show is all about MONEY. It's a bit of a different one. Our chapter book is non-fiction, and it's called Cash: How to earn it, save it, spend it, grow it, give it, by Rashmi Sirdeshpande. This book was chosen by our very special guest, the wonderful author Lisette Auton. The theme took us on a more freewheeling discussion than usual, about our own educations around money growing up, things we saved our pocket money for, and what Lisette did to make a little extra with her cassette player as a kid! We also had a chat about creative method and writing, and learning how to learn.   You can find Lisette's website here and make sure to check out our episode about her debut, The Secret of Haven Point. Lisette also recommends #WriteMentor, who she does some mentoring for. Our picture book is Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts and Noah Z Jones. This story is a perfect encapsulation of some of the themes covered in the chapter book. It's about wanting something very very much, not being able to afford it, coping with the feelings that arise and finding solidarity for others. It's a really, really great story about Jeremy, who wants Those Shoes he sees advertised on every billboard. The art by Noah Z Jones is stunning.   Reminder that we will be taking a break for a few months! In the meantime, Nina's other podcast, the Podgoblin's Hat, has a whole season out ready for your listening pleasure.   What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

This month we're reading Knock Three Times, by Cressida Cowell, and Wishes, by Muon Thi Van and Victo Ngai. Knock Three Times is the third book of a four part series, but anytime is a good time to jump on board thanks to Cressida Cowell's chatty and unnamed narrator. We praise David Tennant's performance of the audiobook very highly, but you'll want the paper book too, so you can look at the pictures. It's a silly adventure story, it's also surprisingly poignant about the difficult relationship between children and their parents.   Wishes is a fabulously sparse illustrated poem about migration. Inspired by the author's own experience as a little girl in the 1980s, it's also a much broader, more universal story. We both just loved this one. The illustrations are stunning. No notes.   The play Matt mentions is The Beekeeper of Aleppo. And we talked more about Pook's Hill, or the Learning Place for Spectacularly Gifted Wizards, on our schools special back in September. And if you want to hear more audiobook chat, we recommended specific books and narrators at the end of series 5.   What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

It's finally here, it's our Greek myth episode! We kick it all off with Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, a titan of early 2000s kids' fantasy that we were a smidge too old for at the time that it came out. We referred to it too when we did our School Stories special if you want to hear more about that kind of stuff. We also compare it to City of the Plague God by Sarwat Chadda which we talked about on an episode of Fantasy Book Swap with Ali Baker.   Then, we get to read a few poems from Echo Echo by Marilyn Singer and Josee Masse and hear Matt do the speediest backpedalling to date on the podcast!   What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com  

To kick off this cold and dreary month we're reading detective fiction! First up is Inspector Brunswick: The Case of the Missing Eyebrow by Chris Lam Sam and Angela Keoghan. Brunswick and his faithful sidekick Nelson thought they were just going to the art gallery for a nice afternoon out, but crime is afoot! We talked about a few different pieces of performance art and protests in relation to the Missing Eyebrow: the toppling of the Colston statue the Banksy self-destruct painting the Just Stop Oil protest of the Van Gogh painting Doctor Willard Wigan's tiny dinosaur   And our chapter book is the wonderful The Secret Detectives by Ella Risbridger. On a mail ship from India to England in 1892, Isobel and her first ever friends Sameer and Lettie see someone pushed overboard. But when they go to raise the alarm the next day, nobody will listen because it seems nobody is missing. Will they solve the crime before the ship docks and the murderer gets away?   We talk a lot about Agatha Christie and the golden age tropes with this one, so we can't help but recommend Shedunnit and All About Agatha if you'd like to learn more about those.   We also compare Risbridger's writing to Eva Ibbotson's. You can hear our episode about Journey to the River Sea here.   Nina's new podcast The Podgoblin's Hat is live now and you can listen here.   What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

It's our annual very serious episode doing a close read and serious criticism of the Kevin the Carrot Christmas picture book from Aldi. This year, the book is called, Kevin the Carrot: No Carrot Left Behind! It is an adaptation of the classic film (which Nina has never seen) Home Alone. We are absolutely delighted with this one. What a great, silly thing.   Here's an article about the rush to buy Kevin memorabilia on the day it was released: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/nov/17/festive-rush-for-aldis-kevin-the-carrot-as-70000-queue-online-for-ad-toys Here's the tv advert: https://www.google.com/search?q=kevin+the+carrot+advert&rlz=1C1CHBF_en-GBGB855GB856&sxsrf=ALiCzsbhxmmEgp25UQSDm5wWrOibzdPKXw:1671725161288&source=lnms&tbm=vid&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiQ7pnDzY38AhW0gVwKHZUmCjYQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1920&bih=912&dpr=1#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:36335433,vid:gnELFxI2OfU Matt recommends this rendition of Twas The Night Before Christmas: https://soundcloud.com/ross-sutherland/5-twas-the-nightmare-before-crom Our episode from last year reviewing A Christmas Carrot: https://eventhetrunchbull.podbean.com/e/concerning-carrots-a-christmas-bonus-episode/   What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

Our stories this month are frosty and icy! Our picture book is The Glowing Snowman by Helen Goodbarton and Sophie Johnson-Hill. A snowman feels lonely and not special, until he accidentally swallows a firefly and becomes rather bright and interesting. But should he keep the firefly captive in his tummy? Or let it go? It's a great collaboration featuring drawings by lots of different children.   For our chapter book, we've got rather a short, bite-sized time travel story: A Night at the Frost Fair, by Emma Carroll and illustrated by Sam Usher. Sitting in the back of a taxi, feeling grumpy and kind of sad, Maya slips back in time to 1788: the Thames has frozen over and the Frost Fair is being held. A small boy named Eddie grabs her arm and they're off for a day of adventure on the ice.   In this episode we mention a few other books we've covered:   Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, in our episode about Shooting Stars The Year I Didn't Go to School by Giselle Potter, in We Don't Need No Education A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, in our episode all about retellings of it   Sojo and Mouse, the publishers of The Glowing Snowman, are selling a special 3 book bundle for £15 at the moment!   Nina also mentions The Snowmama by Jeanette Winterson, which you can read here.   Matt mentions the Whitley Bay shuggy boats, pictured here in the 1920s!   Doctor Who also had an episode set at the frost fair, see a clip here   And here's a video from the CQL about the concept of dignity of risk.   What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com    

content note: This episode features two books about experiences of war. The first is about a family of Polish refugees trying to reunify at the end of WW2, and the second is about a young Navajo boy sent to residential school and later drafted to create a code for the US Marines.   Our books this month are both about experiences of people who lived through World War II, and the theme that connects them is Trauma. Our chapter book is a classic and favourite from Matt's childhood, The Silver Sword, by Ian Serraillier. It's the story of a journey of three children, plus one adopted pickpocketing jack-the-lad, wending their way through post-war Europe in 1946, trying to reunite with their parents in Switzerland. There are always soldiers, be they German, Russian, British or American, and sometimes they help, and sometimes they don't. It's a book that really breaks down the simplistic Goodies vs Baddies narrative about WW2 and we highly recommend it.   Our picture book is Chester Nez and the Unbreakable Code: A Navajo Code-Talker's Story, by Joseph Bruchac and illustrated by Liz Amini-Holmes. It's a non fiction account of the life of Betoli, or Chester, as he comes to be called, being sent away from his people and parents, to residential school at Fort Defiance. At school he is taught that the Navajo way is wrong, Navajo language is wrong, and is taught English and how to pray the Catholic way. In spite of this, Chester holds on to his home culture and spirituality. Years later, when the US join WW2, they need an unbreakable code, and enlist Chester and a few other young Navajo men to use Navajo to create an unbreakable code. It works, and helps the US to win the war. Chester returns from the front, traumatised, but the Navajo people take care of him using a ceremony called the Enemy Way, which sets him back on the right path, the way of beauty. This is a part of history neither of us knew about until we read this book, and it's incredibly clear and beautiful. We recommend seeking it out.   Here's an episode of the Stuff You Should Know podcast all about the Navajo code talkers: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-the-navajo-code-talkers-worked/id278981407?i=1000424660224   Chester Nez's autobiography: https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/9780425247853?gC=5a105e8b&gclid=Cj0KCQjwk5ibBhDqARIsACzmgLSeIeqicyJQAe5Z7rQzRMqivUQY3s148nwsX-CjS2mTbv6CzFst0B8aAjQHEALw_wcB   Here's an article about Ian Serraillier's experience as a conscientious objector in Quaker magazine The Friend: https://thefriend.org/article/once-upon-a-war-time   What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

It's spooky season and we're reading about witches with our special guest and Matt's sister, Ruby! Ruby chose both our books this month:   Winnie the Witch, by Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul The Doomspell, by Cliff McNish   Winnie and Ragwena represent opposite ends of the witch spectrum in terms of badness, but also in their attitude to colours. Nina, Matt and Ruby imagine a backstory for Winnie involving the Black Bull pub in Gateshead, discuss the differences (and similarities) between scifi and fantasy and have a pop at the cover art for The Doomspell.   We discussed a few books we've covered in other episodes, including: Rumaysa, in episode 30 Coraline, in episode 32 And there's a lot of chat about JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis too. Here's an article about their weird, competitive friendship. There's a 35 year anniversary celebration for Winnie the Witch happening at 7 Stories this coming November.   You can read about how The Doomspell came about and see lots of cool covers of the book in translation on the author's own website https://www.cliffmcnish.com/   What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

As promised, we've got even more school chat for you! This was cut from our last episode which was all about boarding schools in kidlit. Matt decided to interview Nina about the book that she's writing, which features a school aboard an airship. This is that conversation, plus two little excerpts of Nina reading from her work in progress. It's a little bit different! If you're here for the book recommendations, not to worry, we'll be back with our regular programming on the first Thursday of October.   To hear the full length episode all about schools, click here   What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

This week we're doing something a little different for our back to school episode, and digging in to a run down of the ins and outs of boarding schools in kidlit.   Nina and Matt have each brought a few books featuring boarding school set ups along to discuss. They are:   The Worst Witch series by Jill Murphy The Dragonfly Pool by Eva Ibbotson The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan Boy by Roald Dahl Witch Week by Diana Wynne Jones Knock Three Times by Cressida Cowell   The audiobook Matt remembers listening to when they were little (on cassette!) is (most probably) this version, recorded in 1984 by Miriam Margolyes - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH6WQxx4W9I   Here's a personal essay about Dartington Hall (the real inspiration behind Delderton Hall in the Dragonfly Pool) and its appearances in kidlit by someone who studied there  https://didyoueverstoptothink.com/2012/01/19/a-most-unusual-place-dartington-hall-and-its-role-in-childrens-literature/   Here's an interview with Jill Murphy about the creation of The Worst Witch and the chance circumstance that led to its eventual publication - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/11198259/An-oral-history-of-The-Worst-Witch.html   What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com    

This week we're reading books about 19th century whaling. Our picture book is ‘Peggony-Po' by Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney, and our chapter book is ‘Nightbirds on Nantucket' by Joan Aiken   We have a guest this episode! Ali Baker is the founder and host of Fantasty Book Swap podcast, which you can check out here - https://alibaker68.podbean.com/ . . . Look out for us on an episode fairly soon!   The podcast ‘Research Hole' has an excellent episode on the real story behind Moby Dick, which gives a good insight into whaling, here - https://www.researchholepodcast.com/episodes/wikipedia-special-the-whaleship-essex-with-joey-howlett-episode-18   The Tik Tok mash-up of Soon May the Wellerman Come can be found here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgsurPg9Ckw   Here's a good piece on why whaling was such a big industry in the 19th century https://www.livescience.com/why-whaling-nineteeth-century.html   Here's a lovely article where Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney interview each other https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-authors/article/84293-in-conversation-andrea-davis-pinkney-and-brian-pinkney.html   What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com  

This month our chapter book is Coraline by Neil Gaiman and our picture book is Alfie Gets in First by Shirley Hughes, which both involve being stuck on the wrong side of a door.   We have a special guest this month too! Simon Mole is an award-winning poet, theatre maker and children's author. Simon joins us to talk about Alfie Gets in First, as well as his new book, I Love My Cat, which we love (illustrated by Sam Usher). You can get it here from Quarto Books - https://www.quarto.com/books/9780711276512/i-love-my-cat   Or, for a limited time, get a discounted signed copy from Next Page Books, here - https://nextpagebooks.co.uk/product/9780711276512/   I Love My Cat is Simon's excellent follow on to I Love My Bike, which we read and loved on this podcast in Episode 26, Winter Wheelies here – https://eventhetrunchbull.podbean.com/e/episode-26-winter-wheelies-i-love-my-bike-and-bicycling-to-the-moon/   You can find links to buy I Love My Cat, and Simon's previous books I Love My Bike and Kites on his website, here - https://www.simonmole.com/books   You can also find details of Simon's upcoming library reading tour on his website, here - https://www.simonmole.com/events   And check out Simon's Youtube channel, which has loads of poetry writing and performing resources for young people and teachers! https://www.simonmole.com/youtube   Links and Articles:   You can read The Guardian's obituary of Shirley Hughes, referenced in the episode, here - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/mar/02/shirley-hughes-obituary   A 2016 Guardian interview with Shirley Hughes, referenced and quoted in the episode, can be found here - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/aug/21/shirley-hughes-interview-alfie-very-best-friend-childrens-books   You can listen to Neil Gaiman and film director Henry Selick talk about Coraline on a 2008 podcast episode from ‘The Sound of Young America' here - https://maximumfun.org/episodes/bullseye-with-jesse-thorn/neil-gaiman-and-henry-selick-on/   The poem La Belle Dame Sans Merci can be read in full here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44475/la-belle-dame-sans-merci-a-ballad   Here's an interesting and accessible article on breeching: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/breeching-party-first-pants-regency-trousers-boys   Previous Even the Trunchbull episodes referenced in this episode can be found here:   Wilde in Episode 20, Not Quite Nuclear, here - https://eventhetrunchbull.podbean.com/e/episode-20-not-quite-nuclear-burglar-bill-and-wilde/   The Magicians of Caprona in Episode 19, Don't Mess With the Pasta Magic, here - https://eventhetrunchbull.podbean.com/e/episode-19-dont-mess-with-the-pasta-magic-strega-nona-and-the-magicians-of-caprona/   Not Now Bernard in Episode 1, Monsters, here - https://eventhetrunchbull.podbean.com/e/episode-1-monsters-young-werewolf-and-not-now-bernard/     What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

Content note: our chapter book touches on bullying, mortality and euthanasia. In discussing it, we also talk about dementia, and how Terry Pratchett dealt with it in his books for children.   This is an episode all about magical, virtual, invisible hats as worn by a pair of powerful girls. And for the first time, we have a guest host! Many thanks to Dave Pickering for stepping into Matt's wonderful shoes.   Our chapter book is A Hat Full of Sky, by Terry Pratchett. It is the second of the Tiffany books, and it's the one where she leaves home and starts to learn witching. We talk about coming of age stories, mean girls, self-respect and how bad thoughts don't make you a bad person.   Our picture book is Satoshi Kitamura's Millie's Marvellous Hat! It's a charming story about imagination and self-expression, and our discussion of it contains a large portion of bickering about what makes a hat a hat. Brim or brimless? Ribbon or no ribbon? Dave brings their experience as an early years library outreach worker as well as their past as a hat-wearer to bear, and shares some ideas about how you could bring this story to life for a group of under-5s. See all of Laura Ellen Anderson's new covers for the Tiffany sequence here: http://www.pickledink.com/blog/terry-pratchett-covers-laura-ellen-anderson   You can watch Pratchett's documentary about living with Alzheimer's here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmejLjxFmCQ&ab_channel=TheDocumentaryChannel112   And watch Satoshi Kitamura tell a kamishibai version of his book Hat Tricks here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtPm7B9_Ri0&ab_channel=BookTrust   Dave and their work can be found here: http://davepickeringstoryteller.co.uk/ We especially recommend their podcast Down to a Sunless Sea here: http://downtoasunlesspod.com/ And if you want to argue with them about hats, you can catch them on twitter @goosefat101   If you enjoyed this Pratt-chat, we also talked about The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents in our episode about Fairytale Retellings: https://eventhetrunchbull.podbean.com/e/episode-14-fairytale-retellings-pattans-pumpkin-and-the-amazing-maurice-and-his-educated-rodents/ And you can hear Dave's first appearance on the show in our episode about dementia: https://eventhetrunchbull.podbean.com/e/episode-12-dementia-moominvalley-in-november-and-the-remember-balloons/   What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com  

This week we're joined by special guest Robert Valentine, to talk about one of his favourite kidlit picture books, Each Peach Pear Plum by Janet and Allan Ahlberg – a much loved classic which sees several fairytale characters combine in one world. That is followed by our chapter book, Rumaysa: A Fairytale by Radiya Hafiza, which retells three traditional fairytales in which the main characters are young Muslim girls, bringing representation and fresh new perspectives to old stories.   Links: The blog by Radiya Hafiza on writing Rumaysa referenced in the episode is here, and is well worth a read - https://www.panmacmillan.com/blogs/books-for-children/radiya-hafiza-rewriting-fairytales-muslim-heroine Waterstones currently have signed copies of Rumaysa on sale for £1 less than original price - https://www.waterstones.com/book/rumaysa-ever-after/radiya-hafiza/rhaida-el-touny/2928377082116 The Ancient Roman sitcom that Rob is guest-writing for is called Cry Havoc! and will be out soon from Rusty Quill: Announcement here - https://www.davidkbarnes.com/news/cry-havoc-a-brand-new-podcast-series Rusty Quill's website here – https://rustyquill.com/show/   See more of Robert Valentine's work at his website, here - https://robertvalentine.net/ Find out more about Radiya Hafiza on the blog at her website, here - https://radiyabooks.wordpress.com/blog/   Previous Episodes Referenced: You can listen to our episode including Howl's Moving Castle in Ep#17 Shooting Stars here - https://eventhetrunchbull.podbean.com/e/episode-17-shooting-stars-look-up-and-howls-moving-castle/   What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com    

CN: very mild gore about losing baby teeth, and some dicussion that might spoil some tooth fairy magic   It's another episode about a chilhood milestone: losing your baby teeth! Matt and Nina chat a bit about their personal experiences, explore some of the history of cultural practices associated with milk teeth, and dig into the history of tooth fairies. The nonfiction picture book Nina mentions is Throw Your Tooth on the Roof.   Our picture book is the classic Dave and the Tooth Fairy, by Verna Wilkins and Paul Hunt, from Tamarind Books. You can find out more about Tamarind Books here and see Verna Wilkins talking about Tamarind here. The new edition of Dave and the Tooth Fairy, with updated art by Carl Pearce, can be bought here.   For our chapter book we go reeeeally retro with Perez the Mouse, or El Ratoncito Perez, by Luis Coloma (via Lady Moreton). This story has spread all around the Spanish-speaking world since it was comissioned in 1894 by the Spanish royal family for the boy king Alfonso XIII. Nina and Matt try to read this cute monarchist fable as a revolutionary text. We also update the scary-o-meter. Your local library might have a copy of Lady Moreton's retelling of the story, but if it doesn't, you can read the whole thing online here. What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

Welcome, listener, to this, our longest ever episode!   EDITORS NOTE: the original version of this episode had a big editing mistake in it, which had Matt saying "able-bodied people can't write disabled characters" when what they actually said was "I don't think able-bodied people can't write disabled characters". A pretty big mistake since it reverses the meaning! The currently available episode has been corrected. Apologies to Matt for making them say the opposite of what they mean.   First we talked about Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid. For more biographical info on him, we recommend Amanda LeDuc's excellent book Disfigured, Rictor Norton's My Dear Boy: Gay Love Letters Through the Centuries, which you can read here. Also see this article on Bookriot.   We went on to talk about the ways Jerry Pinkney adapted the story. Here's a lovely obit of him from Jason Reynolds in Time, and here he is doing an author event over lockdown and talking about The Little Mermaid, and his process.   Our chapter book is The Secret of Haven Point by Lisette Auton. Mermaids with pointy teeth who make appointments by leaving still-bleeding shark teeth on your pillow! Lisette can be found @lisette_auton on twitter and her website is https://lisetteauton.co.uk/ If you're interested in doing a virtual author visit with Lisette for your school, she's doing one in conjunction with 7 Stories in April.   What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

  This month on Even the Trunchbull, we have a listener recommendation! Namely, Momo by Michael Ende (well known as the author of The Never Ending Story) as our chapter book, on a theme of ‘Time' – so that's what we've gone with!   Momo is part celebration of community and part prescient cautionary tale about the dangers of the busy modern world. Momo and a magic tortoise called Cassiopeia must rescue the city from the faceless men in grey, who are determined to steal everyone's time.   That's paired with picture book Clocks and More Clocks by Pat Hutchins (well known beloved picture book writer and one time narrator of Rosie and Jim). This one is both educational and wonderfully daft – essentially a gorgeously structured joke about the passage of time, in which one gentlemen fills his house with rather a lot of clocks.   Articles/Links/Videos etc:   Momo: For a map that shows the most popular children's book from each country that has a book that's reviewed on Goodreads, featuring Momo, see here - https://s2982.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/01-Most-Popular-Childrens-Book-World-Map.png.webp   The film adaptation of Momo, featuring a cameo from Michael Ende, can be found here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q_JYYcBP2Q   The Essay referred to in the episode, ‘Momo, Dogen, and the Commodification of Time' by Linda Goodhew and David Loy, can be read here - http://www.jonathantan.org/handouts/buddhism/Loy-Momo.pdf   Clocks and More Clocks: Pat Hutchins' gorgeous, interactive website can be found here - http://pathutchins.com/   And here's an episode of Rosie and Jim with Pat as narrator - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKJOMOBS4GA   And an obituary of Pat Hutchins from the Guardian can be found here - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/nov/15/pat-hutchins-obituary   Previous episodes referenced in this episode are: The Boy Who Climbed into the Moon, by David Almond, in Ep#4 – Loneliness - https://eventhetrunchbull.podbean.com/e/episode-4-loneliness-the-boy-who-climbed-into-the-moon-and-beegu/   What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

Winter Wheelies Shownotes:   Happy New Year! Just after Christmas, there'll be lots of us out on new bikes, so this episode is celebrating bicycles! Our picture book is I Love My Bike by Simon Mole, illustrated by Sam Usher - a rip-roaring fast-paced adventure, beating out a bouncy rhythm and capturing the excitement of riding a bike for the first time And our chapter book is Bicycling to the Moon by Timo Parvela, illustrated by Virpi Talvitie - a classic of Finnish kidlit which introduces us to Purdy and Barker - a dog and a cat with a dysfunctional but ultimately inseparable friendship.   Articles of Note:   I Love My Bike:   Information on Simon Mole's other projects can be found at his website, here – https://www.simonmole.com   including sign-ups for fortnightly online poetry workshops for 5-12 year olds, here –https://www.simonmole.com/participate   Simon's Youtube channel has loads of great tutorial videos for young poets and schools, here - https://www.youtube.com/c/SimonMole   More of Sam Usher's work can be found at his website, here - https://www.samusher.com/   Nina mentions and reads from poem Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat by T. S. Eliot, which can be read here - https://monologues.co.uk/Childrens_Favourites/Skimbleshanks.htm   Bicycling to the Moon:   There's a nice review from World Kid Lit which includes Bicycling to the Moon here - https://worldkidlit.wordpress.com/2021/02/17/more-animal-tales/   In the episode, Nina mentions Hector's House, an episode of which can be seen here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_tVxvnEJko   More of Timo Parvela's work can be found at his website, here - https://timoparvela.fi/en/   Previous episodes referenced in this episode are:   The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame in Ep#7, I Am A Mole And I Live In A Hole: https://eventhetrunchbull.podbean.com/e/episode-7-i-am-a-mole-and-i-live-in-a-hole-the-story-of-the-little-mole-who-knew-it-was-none-of-his-business-and-the-wind-in-the-willows/   Moominvalley in November by Tove Jansson in Ep#12, Dementia: https://eventhetrunchbull.podbean.com/e/episode-12-dementia-moominvalley-in-november-and-the-remember-balloons/   What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

Our books for this final episode of Even The Trunchbull for 2021 are loosely linked around pets at Christmas!   The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser features Paganini the rabbit, Franz the dog and George Washington the cat. But it's mainly about the five human Vanderbeeker children and their quest to convince their Scrooge-like landlord to allow their family to stay in their lovely apartment. Their tactics run the range from naughty to nice, as is seasonally appropriate. This is a warm and lovely read, sweet but not cloying.   Mog's Christmas, by Judith Kerr, is all about Mog the cat! We talk in general about the enduring appeal of the Mog formula, Kerr's very funny writing and iconic illustration style. What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com   Episode Transcript will follow, and will be available here - https://eventhetrunchbull.wordpress.com/home/transcripts/   And as always you can check out our bookshop dot org shop front here - https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/trunchbullpod  

The festive season is in full swing, the Christmas TV ads have all aired, and by far the most popular this year is A Christmas Carrot, from Aldi! And they even brought out a picture book. In classic Even The Trunchbull style, we have taken it upon ourselves to review this new take on Charles Dickens's classic, and let us tell you, if nothing else, this book is good fun if you enjoy a pun.   A Christmas Carrot is written by Stephanie Moss and illustrated by Hannah Wood. You won't be able to find it in traditional bookshops, but it's probably still in Aldi. Check out our social media for photos of the book and a picture of Matt drinking from their Kevin mug :-)   If this episode has whetted you appetite for more Christmas Carol chat, we've a whole episode about its myriad adaptations: https://eventhetrunchbull.podbean.com/e/series-4-finale-a-christmas-carol-retold-for-children/   We'll be back on Thursday with a full length episode, until then wrap up warm!   What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com   Episode Transcript will follow, and will be available here - https://eventhetrunchbull.wordpress.com/home/transcripts/   And as always you can check out our bookshop dot org shop front here - https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/trunchbullpod

  This week our picture book is Yokki and the Parno Gry by Katharine Quarmby and Ricard O'Neill – a story about a young boy in a Romani Traveller family, and the power of stories themselves   And our chapter book this week is The Famine Secret by Cora Harrison. Part of the Drumshee Timeline series, this story takes us via four young siblings into the hardships of the Irish Famine of 1845   Links:   For Yokki and the Parno Gry:   There's a lovely video of Richard O'Neill reading Yokki and the Parno Gry here - https://www.travellerstimes.org.uk/ytt/features/listen-yokki-and-parno-gry-richard-oneill   Travellers Times also has a short documentary narrated by Richard, ‘Roads From The Past: A Short History of Britain's Gypsies, Roma and Travellers' here - https://www.travellerstimes.org.uk/heritage/roads-past-short-history-Britains-Gypsies-Roma-and-Travellers#   ‘The Goose and the Common', the folk poem that Nina reads during the episode about the Inclosure Acts, can be read here - https://unionsong.com/u765.html   The podcast ‘99% Invisible' have an episode about the Inclosure Acts, which can be heard here - https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/right-to-roam/   More info on Richard O'Neill can be found at his website, here - https://richardthestoryteller.weebly.com/about-richard.html   More info on Katharine Quarmby can be found at her website, here - https://katharinequarmby.com/     For The Famine Secret:   This link has some info on the ‘Yellow Fever' and ‘Black Fever' suffered in Ireland during the 1840's, reference in The Famine Secret https://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/history/workdisease.htm     More info on Cora Harrison's Drumshee Timeline can be found at her website, here - http://www.coraharrison.com/drumshee/index.html     What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com   Episode Transcript will follow, and will be available here - https://eventhetrunchbull.wordpress.com/home/transcripts/   And as always you can check out our bookshop dot org shop front here - https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/trunchbullpod

This week we're joined by special guest Pádraig Kenny, to talk about one of his favourite kidlit chapter books, Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson. That is followed by our picture book, Along The River by Vanina Starkoff, with English translation by Jane Springer   Articles of Note: There is an interesting article about the representation of Indigenous people in Peter Pan and more broadly in children's lit here: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/racist-history-peter-pan-indian-tribe-180953500/ The Guardian has an obituary of Eva Ibbotson here, that mentions her partner Alan, also mentioned in the episode: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/oct/24/eva-ibbotson-obituary   Reading Suggestions: The First Blade of Sweetgrass by Suzanne Greenlaw, Gabriel Frey and Nancy Baker came out in the same year as Journey to the River Sea and offers an own-voices story of Indigenous people: https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/The-First-Blade-of-Sweetgrass-by-Suzanne-Greenlaw-author-Gabriel-Frey-author-Nancy-Baker-artist/9780884487609 Sisters of the Neversea by Cynthia Leitich Smith offers a retelling of Peter Pan: https://cynthialeitichsmith.com/kidbooks/kids_index/sisters-of-the-neversea/ Pádraig's new book The Shadows of Rookhaven is out now in all the places, and is excellent: https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/The-Shadows-of-Rookhaven-by-Pdraig-Kenny-author-Edward-Bettison-illustrator/9781529031713   Previous episodes referenced in this episode are: Pog by Pádraig Kenny in Ep#2, Grief: https://eventhetrunchbull.podbean.com/e/episode-2-grief-the-sad-book-and-pog/ Du Iz Tak? by Carson Ellis in Ep#3, Made Up Languages: https://eventhetrunchbull.podbean.com/e/episode-3-made-up-languages-du-iz-tak-and-the-giants-and-the-joneses/ Pattan's Pumpkin by Chitra Soundar in Ep#14, Fairytale Retellings: https://eventhetrunchbull.podbean.com/e/episode-14-fairytale-retellings-pattans-pumpkin-and-the-amazing-maurice-and-his-educated-rodents/ The Beasts of Clawstone Castle by Eva Ibbotson in Ep#18, Mystical Cows: https://eventhetrunchbull.podbean.com/e/episode-18-mystical-cows-the-beasts-of-clawstone-castle-and-maharani-the-cow/ The Monsters of Rookhaven by Padraig Kenny in Ep#22, Haunted Houses: https://eventhetrunchbull.podbean.com/e/episode-22-haunted-houses-ghosts-in-the-house-and-the-monsters-of-rookhaven/   What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com   Episode Transcript will follow later this week, and will be available here - https://eventhetrunchbull.wordpress.com/home/transcripts/   And as always you can check out our bookshop dot org shop front here - https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/trunchbullpod

Just a note to let you know that due to life and work stuff going on, this month's episode about rivers in Brazil is going to be delayed by a week. We hope it'll be worth the wait, and thank you for bearing with us!   Nina and Matt

This week our picture book is ‘Ghosts in the House!' by Kazuno Kohara and our chapter book is ‘The Monsters of Rookhaven' by Padraig Kenny Articles referenced by Nina with Halloween craft activities for kids to go alongside Ghosts in the House can be found: Here - https://hannahsartclub.wordpress.com/2012/09/27/spooky-haunted-houses-inspired-by-kazuno-kohara-october-2011/   And here - http://www.prayingforparker.com/ghosts-in-the-house-by-kazuno-kohara-and-an-extension-activity/   The photographic project Matt was mentioning can be seen on our social media accounts: @TrunchbullPod on twitter and @eventhetrunchbull on Instagram   The interview with Padraig Kenny, referenced by Matt, was conducted by Dave O'Callaghan for easons.com and can be viewed here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOgsAWK_mV0   An article detailing the buying of film and TV rights for ‘The Monsters of Rookhaven' is here - https://www.thebookseller.com/news/dream-logic-snaps-rights-kennys-monsters-rookhaven-1274987   We also reference various of our own past episodes in this one, which can be found at the following links: Ep 17: Howl's Moving Castle - https://eventhetrunchbull.podbean.com/e/episode-17-shooting-stars-look-up-and-howls-moving-castle/ Ep1: Not Now Bernard - https://eventhetrunchbull.podbean.com/e/episode-1-monsters-young-werewolf-and-not-now-bernard/ Ep 2: Pog - https://eventhetrunchbull.podbean.com/e/episode-2-grief-the-sad-book-and-pog/ Halloween Special #1: The Jumbies - https://eventhetrunchbull.podbean.com/e/halloween-special-1-ghosts-for-breakfast-and-the-jumbies/   We also mentioned A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicholl and The Northern Lights by Phillip Pullman.   Episode Transcript will follow later this week, and will be available here - https://eventhetrunchbull.wordpress.com/home/transcripts/   And as always you can check out our bookshop dot org shop front here - https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/trunchbullpod   What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

Happy back to school times listeners!   This month we're reading lovely autobiographical picture book The Year I Didn't Go to School by Giselle Potter. Italian nuns and pasta with eggs abound!   And for our chapter book we're doing an old favourite of both of ours, the Wind Singer, by William Nicholson. It's fantastically critical of the exams system and more relevant now even than when it was written (in our humble opinions).   Episode Transcript will follow later this week, and will be available here - https://eventhetrunchbull.wordpress.com/home/transcripts/   And as always you can check out our bookshop dot org shop front here - https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/trunchbullpod   What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com  

Hello lovely listeners, Nina and Matt here to announce brand new Even the Trunchbull episodes coming in the autumn. Our first episode back will be about WE DON'T NEED NO EDUCATION and it'll come out on the 2nd of September. We'll be reading The Year I Didn't Go to School by Giselle Potter and The Wind Singer by William Nicholson.   From here on out ETTB is going to be a monthly show, publishing on the first Thursday of every month.   As always, you can email us your book suggestions at eventhetrunchbull@gmail.com, or catch us on twitter and facebook @trunchbullPod, or on instagram @eventhetrunchbull. Episode transcripts can be found on our website https://eventhetrunchbull.wordpress.com/home/transcripts/ and if you like our recommendations, you can shop for them at our storefront https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/trunchbullpod What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

To wrap up series five, we're doffing our hats to audiobook narrators. First Nina and Matt meander down memory lane, reminiscing about books on tape we listened to in the 1990s. Then we move on to recommend a clutch of excellent narrators:   Cecelia Ramsdale, who performed Pog by Padraig Kenny   Ben Onwukwe, who we enjoyed reading Ikenga by Nnedi Okorafor   Aoife MacMahon, who amongst others has performed Begone the Raggedy Witches by Celine Kiernan   David Tennant, with The Wizards of Once series by Cressida Cowell, and others   And Malcolm Hamilton, David Almond's regular audiobook performer it seems, who reads The Boy Who Climbed into the Moon and The Tale of Angelino Brown   We crowdsourced this one a little bit - thank you to all who submitted your favourite audiobook narrators! Here are the other recommendations that we got: Huw Parmenter, reading Cart and Cwidder by Diana Wynne Jones    Alex Jennings, reading The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper   Miriam Margolyes, reading Matilda by Roald Dahl and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by CS Lewis   Carl Prekopp, reading the Half Bad series by Sally Green (fyi, this is YA, not kidlit)   Simon Russell Beale, reading Children of the Red King, by Jenny Nimmo   Episode Transcript will follow later this week, and will be available here - https://eventhetrunchbull.wordpress.com/home/transcripts/   And as always you can check out our bookshop dot org shop front here - https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/trunchbullpod   What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

This week we're reading around the theme of ‘Not Quite Nuclear' . . . we're reading books about found family and unusual family set-ups   Our picture book is Burglar Bill by Janet and Allan Ahlberg (one of Matt's childhood favourites)   And our chapter book is Wilde, by Eloise Williams, which is a new favourite for both of us   Wilde is published by Firefly Press, which is an independent children's and Young Adult publisher based in Wales. You can get a copy from Wilde from them here - https://fireflypress.co.uk/books/wilde/ We strongly encourage supporting independent presses!   Episode Transcript will follow later this week, and will be available here - https://eventhetrunchbull.wordpress.com/home/transcripts/   And as always you can check out our bookshop dot org shop front here - https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/trunchbullpod   What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com  

Spaghetti, magic and Italian cities abound in this episode! We kick off the discussion with the treasure that is Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola. Lovely, naive, almost tapestry-like illustrations and a simple folk tale.   And then we indulge in another Diana Wynne Jones: The Magicians of Caprona! In this second book of the Chrestomanci series we visit a world where song is magic, and magic is song. Romeo and Juliet influences are thick in the air; there is, as usual with Diana Wynne Jones, a war just over the horizon. And, if you weren't sold yet, some brilliant cat characters the likes of which we haven't seen since The Amazing Maurice.   We reference our Shooting Stars episode about Howl's Moving Castle too, which you can find here.   You can see and purchase all the books we've ever discussed at our bookshop dot org shopfront here.   Transcripts are available on our website here.   Our intro music, What A Wonderful Day, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

This week we're reading around the theme of Mystical Cows!   Our picture book is Maharani the Cow, written by Christy Shoba Sudhir and illustrated by Nancy Raj – a bustling slice of life in India is interrupted by a cow in the road.   And our chapter book is The Beasts Of Clawstone Castle by Eva Ibbotson, in which there may well be ghosts but it is, in fact, all about the cows.   justonemorebook.com have a lovely audio interview with Eva Ibbotson from 2008 here in which she talks about her life and writing process here - http://justonemorebook.com/2008/01/21/interview-with-eva-ibbotson/   And here's some great fan art from Clawstone! - https://www.deviantart.com/scarletcortez/art/Sunita-537823380   Episode Transcript will follow later this week, and will be available here - https://eventhetrunchbull.wordpress.com/home/transcripts/   And as always you can check out our bookshop dot org shop front here - https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/trunchbullpod   What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com  

Even the Trunchbull series 5 launches with a special on Shooting Stars and we've got some special announcements to kick off the new year.   A full transcript of this episode is now available to read on our blog here.   Our bookshop dot org shopfront is available here. Many thanks to Alice Slater of What Page Are You On? for doing the digging on the ethics of bookshop dot org and explaining it all over on her podcast, here.   Our picture book is the award-winning Look Up! by Nathan Bryon and Dapo Adeola, and our chapter book is the fantasy classic Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. Nina got so excited about out first DWJ that she ranted about the book jacket for a solid 3 radio minutes.   Read more about Look Up! here and watch the authors' reading and drawing tutorial here.   We mentioned the gorgeous illustrated Folio Society edition of Howl in the podcast - we thought you might like to see these lovely entries to their illustration competition.    What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

It's the closing episode for season 4 here at Even the Trunchbull and this week we're doing retellings of A Christmas Carol. Matt has read Charles Dickens' original for the first time, and Nina has read a bunch of adaptations to tell Matt about, including: The audiobook performance by Sir Patrick Stewart; Barrington Stoke's dyslexia-friendly adaptation; Bah! Humbug! by Michael Rosen; Christmas Carol The Movie novelisation by Narinder Dhami; A World Full of Dickens Stories by Angela McAllister; Hanukkah, Shmanukkah! by Esme Raji Codell and LeUyen Pham, and The Miracle on Ebenezer Street by Catherine Doyle. With honourable mentions of TV and film adaptations, and an old-man-baby-ghost with giant arms. What's not to love? There's also talk of the inadvertent invention of modern-day Christmas by Dickens himself . . . hear more about that at The Allusionist Podcast here - https://www.theallusionist.org/allusionist/dickens-christmas And we'll be announcing the winner of our Christmas Giveaway! Many thanks again to Armchair Books of Edinburgh for letting us have one of their tote bags as a stocking. Merry Christmas everyone! What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

Our picture book is Happy Christmas Gemma by Sarah Hayes and Jan Ormerod. This one's a nostalgia pick, for Nina especially, who had it read to her as a little one, and perfectly encapsulates Christmas cosiness, and the mix of pride and annoyance an older sibling has for a toddler sister.   And our chapter book is I Saw Three Ships by Elizabeth Goudge. This gorgeous short story takes us back to late 18th/early 19th century Cornwall/West Country for a retelling of the Three Wise Men. Steeped in legend, and Christmas cosiness, we loved this one.   Christmas giveaway update: We've added our fourth and final present to the Armchair Books totebag. This week we've added ‘What is Masculinity? Why Does it Matter? And Other Big Questions' – a book for children aged 10 and up about masculinity. Friend and guest of the podcast Dave Pickering (from the Moomin episode) is a contributor and has generously given us a copy to give away to you! The book has been described as ‘Timely, necessary, attentive to and respectful of its young audience, this book is a friend which holds out an encouraging, steadying hand to any child or young person wanting to reach a full humanity unfettered by the limiting impositions of gender stereotypes.' (https://www.letterboxlibrary.com/acatalog/What-is-Masculinity--Why-Does-It-Matter--And-Other-Big-Questions-1.html) If you want to be in with a chance to win our bag of presents, just follow one of these links and comment to enter into the prize draw: https://twitter.com/TrunchbullPod/status/1329367852357398528 https://www.instagram.com/p/CHxLlR4g8ny/ https://www.facebook.com/trunchbullpod/posts/157975092712391 Many thanks to Armchair Books of Edinburgh for letting us have one of their tote bags as a stocking.   You can find more of Dave Pickering's work here - http://dave-pickering.squarespace.com/ or @goosefat101 What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com Additional music this week was Holiday Weasel by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Join Nina and Matt as we dive into a couple of topics that go hand in hand: dragons and gender! We talk about why stories about dragons, princesses and knights are a great place to play with gender roles, gay dragons, and Matt pitches an episode about Howl's Moving Castle (coming in series 5!)   Our picture book in The Worst Princess by Anna Kemp and Sara Ogilvie Our chapter book is Digory the Dragon Slayer by Angela McAllister   Christmas giveaway update: we've added Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi to our swag bag. If you want to be in with a chance to win our bag of presents, just follow one of these links and comment to enter into the prize draw:   https://twitter.com/TrunchbullPod/status/1329367852357398528 https://www.instagram.com/p/CHxLlR4g8ny/ https://www.facebook.com/trunchbullpod/posts/157975092712391     Many thanks to Armchair Books of Edinburgh for letting us have one of their tote bags as a stocking.   Our intro music, What A Wonderful Day, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com   Additional music this week was Holiday Weasel by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Join Matt and Nina this week for a discussion of fairytales and folk tales! We talk about flood myths in regard to Chitra Soundar and Frané Lessac's "Pattan's Pumpkin". See Ms Soundar's writing about how Pattan's Pumpkin came about here: https://www.wordsandpics.org/2016/09/retelling-folktales-Chitra-Soundar.html http://www.chitrasoundar.com/pyramids-of-caste-and-the-need-for-inclusivity/   And in the second half we discuss a Pratchett classic that we both loved as teenagers: the Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents. We talk about Pratchett's comic genius, flawed disability representation and brilliant names like Dangerous Beans and Peaches.   Christmas giveaway update: we've added the Snowman audiobook to our swag bag. If you want to be in with a chance to win our bag of presents, just follow one of these links and comment to enter into the prize draw:   https://twitter.com/TrunchbullPod/status/1329367852357398528 https://www.instagram.com/p/CHxLlR4g8ny/ https://www.facebook.com/trunchbullpod/posts/157975092712391     Many thanks to Armchair Books of Edinburgh for letting us have one of their tote bags as a stocking.   Our intro music, What A Wonderful Day, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com   Additional music this week was Holiday Weasel by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

We're launching series 4 with two books featuring family recipes!    Apple cake and Baklava by Kathrin Rohmann and translated into English by Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp is the story of the friendship between a Syrian refugee and a white German boy in her class, and their quest to recover a very precious walnut.   Peeny Butter Fudge is about the sweet and outrageous delights of spending a day with your Nana, and it's a gorgeous picture book written in verse by Toni Morrison and Slade Morrison.   We're also launching a Christmas giveaway today! If you want to be in with a chance to win the Wind in the Willows: the board game (among other presents) just follow one of these links and comment to enter into the prize draw:   https://twitter.com/TrunchbullPod/status/1329367852357398528 https://www.instagram.com/p/CHxLlR4g8ny/ https://www.facebook.com/trunchbullpod/posts/157975092712391     Many thanks to Armchair Books of Edinburgh for letting us have one of their tote bags as a stocking.   Our intro music, What A Wonderful Day, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com   Additional music this week was Holiday Weasel by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Surprise! It's a Halloween Special! We couldn't pass up this time of year without bringing you two spooky stories. Our chapter book is The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste, a modern retelling of Haitian fairytale folklore about things that go bump in the night on a semi-fictional Caribbean island – with some genuinely scary moments. Our picture book is Ghosts for Breakfast by Stanley Todd Terasaki and illustrated by Shelly Shinjo – Mr. Omi, Mr. Omaye and Mr. Ono have seen ghosts in Farmer Tanaka's field! But is everything as it seems? A playful book which keeps the spook and defuses the scare. Our intro music, What A Wonderful Day, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com Additional sound effects this week were from https://www.freesoundeffects.com/

For our final episode of the season, we're breaking format to bring you an episode on wordless picture books! Nina and Matt have picked three books each to discuss, and the six books are: Why? by Nikolai Popov Here I Am by Patti Kim and Sonia Sanchez Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Idle Found. by Jeff Newman and Larry Day The Only Child by Guojing (special thanks to the World Kidlit Blog for this recommendation) And much loved classic, The Snowman by Raymond Briggs Hope you enjoy and see you again for season 4 in a couple of months! You can find the World Kid Lit Blog here: https://worldkidlit.wordpress.com/ Our intro music, What A Wonderful Day, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

(CN: Discussion of dementia and memory loss) This week we're reading books linked by themes of dementia and memory. Our chapter book is Moominvalley in November, by Tove Jansson, the last in the Moomins series, which sees various characters returning to Moominvalley, trying to remember and forget in turn, in the absence of the Moomin family Our picture book is The Remember Balloons by Jessie Oliveros, illustrated by Dana Wulfekotte, which draws a beautifully simple metaphor for dementia. We have our first special guest this week – Dave Pickering is an aficionado on all things Moomins. He also explores dementia in his podcast Down to a Sunless Sea, in which he documents a series of conversations with his father living with dementia. You can find Down to a Sunless Sea here - directory.libsyn.com/shows/view/id/downtoasunlesssea Dave has also created many other podcasts and projects – find out more at http://davepickeringstoryteller.co.uk/ He also contributed to this book for children about masculinity: https://www.waterstones.com/book/what-is-masculinity-why-does-it-matter-and-other-big-questions/jeffrey-boakye/darren-chetty/9781526308146 You can find Dave on Twitter @goosefat101 What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

(CN: Discussion of anti-black racism, violence, slavery and guns during the chapter book section. If you want to skip ahead to our picture book section, start at 27 minutes) This week we're reading books that feature dinosaurs! Our chapter book is Dactyl Hill Squad by Daniel José Older, which blends historical fiction and fantasy as we follow the adventures a gang of kids from the Coloured Orphan Asylum in 1863 New York, but in a world inhabited by both people and dinosaurs. Our picture book is Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs, as retold by Mo Willems – classic Goldilocks story but, again, with dinosaurs, as well as a healthy dose of wry sarcasm, which we've got plenty time for. Write or Die Podcast has a great episode with Daniel Jose Older talking about overcoming institutional rejection in the publishing industry and getting started in writing here - https://writeordiepodcast.com/2018/04/20/episode-one-daniel-jose-older-the-actual-motherfing-biggest-childrens-publisher-in-the-galaxy/ If you like the sound of Dactyl Hill Squad, it is Book 1 of a trilogy: sequels ‘Freedom Fire' and ‘Thunder Run' are now available. There's a tantalising review of ‘Freedom Fire' here - https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/daniel-jose-older/freedom-fire/ Lovely interview with Mo Willems here, about breaking the rules in writing, drawing and reading to your kids, with lots of offshoot links, from Playing by the Book - http://www.playingbythebook.net/2013/04/01/an-interview-with-mo-willems/ Mo regularly Tweets interviews, doodles and other content @The_Pigeon What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

[CN: war, death, bombs, destruction, trench warfare] This week we're reading books about war, and about building peace. Our chapter book is Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo, beloved by Matt and Nina since they were 11, and the General by Janet Charters, which we'd never read before, and is a fascinating look at 1960s pacifism and at Michael Foreman's earliest published illustrations. There's a lot of further reading for those of you that want it this week. Our resident history nerd Matt recommends these interviews with Mr Morpurgo (our content note extends to these, and also they contain spoilers): http://www.filmeducation.org/privatepeaceful/pdf/MICHAEL%20MORPURGO%20Interview%20Transcript.pdf https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S3fp8Tqn5E&ab_channel=HarperCollinsChildren%27sBooks And Nina, who took the lead on the research into The General and Michael Foreman (we couldn't find much at all about Janet Charters, sadly), recommends these: https://writewyattuk.com/2016/10/20/drawing-from-experience-the-michael-foreman-interview/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLF-ENtMp5o&ab_channel=Culture24videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePRDc_Gozjk&ab_channel=Culture24videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8axwRLbi58&ab_channel=Culture24videos What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

(CN: discussion of an Asian child's experience of racism in school during the section about the picture book) We're back in time for the new school year, our pencils are sharpened and our backpacks are heavy with a new season's books! Our picture book this week is Sumi's First Day of School Ever by Soyung Pak and illustrated by Joung Un Kim. We talk about how scary it can be to start a new school, especially in a new country, and how drawing can be a bridge between people even in the absence of a common language. Our chapter book is the rip-roaring Last Last-Day-Of-Summer by Lamar Giles. We loved this sci-fi time travel romp and we think you will too! Lamar Giles' new book, the Last Mirror on the Left, is available to pre-order now: https://www.lamargiles.com/pre-order-the-last-mirror-on-the-left The podcast we mentioned at the end of the episode is Down to a Sunless Sea by Dave Pickering, which can be found here: http://downtoasunlesspod.com/ What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

To wrap up a series where we've been talking about book to film adaptations made in 1996, we're watching Matilda and chatting along. There's some little easter eggs pointed out by Nina, and a couple of last ditch attempts by Matt to get us to watch The Wind in the Willows. ETTB will be back in September, so enjoy the rest of your summer! Love from Nina and Matt What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

To wrap this series up, we're reading about little girls with superpowers! See Aviaq Johnston talking about writing and identity here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29sFN6ESUAw And if you liked the sound of the Trunchbull's chocolate cake, EmmyMadeInJapan recreated it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hy8934KlKY Chech out that episode of Next Door Villain about Miss Trunchbull: https://nextdoorvillain.libsyn.com/miss-trunchbull What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

It's taken us a series and a half, but we've got our first poo book! Nina is keener on this German cracker than Matt is. We talk about the translation, about the illustrations, and the choice to give some animals glasses but none of them trousers. Then there's book versus adaptation chat, a lot of class chat, a look at the link between nature writing and small-c conservatism, a close read of our favourite chapters and, surprisingly, very little mention of Mister Toad. What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com.

So much to say about puppets! The picture book, Revenge of the Puppets by Nadine D'Souza and illustrated by Ayush Rajvanshi, gave us lots to link to: Here's a great video of a kathputli puppet doing a dance: https://youtube.com/watch?v=WuohEEPQJZ0 Here's that stop motion animation by Lesley-Ann Rose that Matt was talking about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtPBPa_iVn8&t=1s And Karadi Tales has lots of free stuff up for kids in lockdown right now: https://www.karaditales.com/kathawithkaradi/ Michael Morpurgo's retelling of Pinocchio generated no links, but it did inspire a very loving discussion. What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com.

Welcome back to series 2! We're starting off with our longest and silliest episode yet, full of metaphysical debate, high and low swooshes and a tasteful description of a giraffe's bum. You can see the app version of Il Sung Na's A Book of Sleep here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oiTYP9B7iw&app=desktop Starlight Barking should be in all good libraries, but if it's not, get yourself a second hand copy from your favourite bookshop. What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com.

Series 1 of ETTB is over and it's been so lovely! To keep youse going until series 2 (due on the 18th of June), we've put together a little quickfire round of reviews, and you now have the chance to win all the titles we talk about in this episode! For reference, the books are: Father Bear Comes Home by Else Holmelund Minarik and Maurice Sendak The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr The Day of the Dreader by Cressida Cowell The thing that bothered Farmer Brown by Teri Sloat Melvin's Cold Feet by Linda Crust and John Brindle Papas Spaghetti by Joy Cowley and Marie Low I want my dinner by Tony Ross Space Tortoise by Ross Montgomery and David Litchfield Stories of Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne Giants and the Joneses by Julia Donaldson All you've got to do to be in with a chance to win them is to write us a review on Apple Podcasts or on Twitter (tag us in @TrunchbullPod to make sure we see it). Until next season, love from Matt and Nina What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com. Additional sound effects from https://www.freesoundslibrary.com/

This week we're reading around the theme of loneliness and we're reviewing one of Matt's all time favourites, the Boy Who Climbed into the Moon by David Almond. We talk about determinism, Jesus-like characters, free will and the space/time continuum. And then we talk about Beegu, with special focus on alien hieroglyphics, the colour yellow and what big ears are for. We did some extra research around The Boy Who Climbed into the Moon because Matt loved it so much, and we thought we'd share what we found here in the show notes. The Home Education podcast's review of the book: https://thehomeeducationpodcast.uk/index.php/tag/david-almond/ The Guardian's Science Weekly podcast about free will and determinism: https://www.theguardian.com/science/audio/2016/nov/15/big-unknowns-is-free-will-an-illusion-science-weekly-podcast We found out there had been a theatrical adaptation with puppets too, which we're sad we missed, but we really enjoyed the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7LnM8OgBQU What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com.

Nina and Matt read Carson Ellis' beautiful picture book Du Iz Tak? and Julia Donaldson's chapter book The Giants and the Joneses. We talk about the languages invented by the authors, what role they play in the books, language acquisition and how it feels to be a sheep. What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com.

CN: bereavement, child death, parent death, sadness, depression, rage In this, our second ever episode, Nina and Matt go deep on Michael Rosen's lovely sad book and on a new favourite: Pog by Pádraig Kenny. Matt apologises in advance for mispronouncing a character's name. What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com.