Wed Wabbit

"It is. Where to begin? Full marks to the publisher for really taking a risk. David Fickling Books. It’s an independent publisher and really worth looking at. He also produces something called The Phoenix Comic —which is great for all readers but especially if you have a reluctant reader in the family. It gave my nephew the inspiration he needed and he is an avid reader now. All the books they publish are really exciting, and of a very high quality. Because it is—even by the standards of children’s books where there’s no real limit on where you set a story or characters that you create. You can do anything you want. But even by those standards, this book is completely out there. It’s uniquely unusual. It may not be to everyone’s taste…. It’s a little bit like the film of The Wizard of Oz , where real life is black and white, and Oz is technicolour. It also reminded me of another book called The Hounds of the Morrigan , which is two children going on a quest in a sort of fairy tale land. This isn’t a fairytale land, but there are similarities. There are two children who are damaged. The little girl is called Fidge and her father died two years ago in the story—and she hasn’t been able to hug anyone since. Everything’s held inside her. Her cousin has various personality disorders and fears. He has transitional objects and a range of therapists, it seems. These two kids end up on this magical adventure. Fidge’s younger sister has a picture book called The Land of Wimbley Woos , which is a ridiculous book. All bright colours with these silly Wimbley Woo characters, who only speak in rhyme. Everyone knows it by heart because this is the book she asks to be read every night. By going down the stairs of a cellar and because of a huge lightning strike, Fidge and her very unstable cousin end up in the picture book, and this is where you end up in full technicolour. Everything is bright primary colours here. It’s completely bonkers. Their quest and adventure takes place in this children’s book and it is a particularly grating children’s book. Because Lissa Evans is so funny and very, very skillful, she can pull it off. Their reactions to the situations, to the large purple creatures, is absolutely real. It makes it even funnier. I just laughed and laughed and laughed. I think I was actually snorting at one point. It’s a good lesson in facing fears and difficulties in life with laughter. I don’t want to get too heavy on this point, because it’s just a very, very, very funny book. Also, as a parent reading bedtime stories to younger children all the time, I identified with so many of her jokes. She’s gently teasing the genre of over-the-top picture books, with characters that speak only in rhyme. It’s so deftly done, though. It’s unbelievably weird, but, again, I had a lump in my throat at the end. The characters were vividly drawn and I empathised with them completely."