Rosie’s Book Review Team #RBRT Ian Billings’ Lost Property by @mrianbillings #comedy

Today’s team book review comes from Suraya, find her here http://www.thestorymint.com

Suraya has been reading and reviewing Lost Property by Ian Billings

Book Review

Lost property

By Ian Billings

This is a delightful children’s book. I can imagine children giggling over some of the craziness like Insect a side football.

This is a collection of witty short stories and poems supported by drawings. It is spirited and loads of fun.

Just when I thought I was getting to grips with the misspelt words, the weird things the characters did and the variety of typefaces something else would come up and I’d do another double take. It was a thoroughly entertaining piece of writing.

For example who could but smile when they read this:

BEWARE! TAKE CARE!

Our school caretaker, Mr. Mole

Didn’t take care – so he fell in a hole.

 

When your job’s about taking care,

If there’s a hole in the ground you should beware.

The drawing of two skinny legs in big shoes and attached to a very round body falling into a black hole just rounds the piece out.

What a wonderful play on words in the poem and the drawing just adds further laughter value. There are examples of this throughout the collection.

I loved Dame Peggie Slops who was seventy two and still had all her teeth…

in a jar by the bed’.

Sometimes I missed the play on words as in the use of the name, ‘Misstress Gallopp’. The story ends with ‘ What an Opportunity! What appalling spelling!’ and in invitation to read the transcript of the Clapham Police Interview with Missstress Gallopp over missing toe nails.

He plays with topics that make adults squirm. I imagine young people would think tales like ‘The Gruesome Yarn of Mummy’s Nail Clippings’ hilarious. The same goes for the very funny description of ‘Lady Fopp’s beauty spot, which was on her nose, and disappeared after someone squeezed it out.’

However, I can well imagine young people in a group hooting with laughter when they read, ‘From The Septic Tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Sheen.’

Here is an extract:

‘Instead he saw something surprising, so surprising in fact, his wig nearly leaped of his head and hid behind the curtains.’

Delicacies are included in this compendium of what many might call bad taste. For example I imagine every reader will be clambering for prawn ice creams.

This is a lot of fun!

Four stars.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com