Who’s that Banging on the Ceiling?

Who’s that Banging on the Ceiling? by Colin McNaughton (Walker Books)
PB RRP$16.95
ISBN 9781406347364
Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Living beneath somebody is never easy, particularly in an apartment block. Noise is everywhere. There’s nothing like hearing a sound and being unable to identify its source.

So it is for the tenants of this ten storey block of housing. Each one thinks the noise is something it’s not for ‘that would be silly’ if it were true. But what is actually happening is revealed on the following page.  And so it goes till the top, when someone is banging on the ceiling and it sounds like King Kong. Could it be true this time?

This is a reflection of living in a multi-story apartment block. The hilarious captions that question the noise above cause their own chaos. The book is noisy and carefree; impossible and exceptional. Adults will love this as much as children, for McNaughton is a skilled and clever author/illustrator who has created a masterpiece filled with outlandish imagination and behaviour, fun and laughter.