Exploding
Endings - Books 1(Painted Dogs and Doom Cakes), 2 (Cursed Pants & Cranky
Cops) and 3(Dingbats &Lollypop Arms) by Tim Harris,
illustrated by Ryan Perno (Harbour
Publishing House)
PB
RRP $14.99
Book
1 ISBN 978-1-922134-57-8
Book
2 ISBN 978-1-922134-69-1
Book
3 ISBN 978-1-922134-70-7
Reviewed
by Joanne Pummer
Short Stories
With Big Twists - that's how author Tim Harris describes his
trilogy of short stories called 'Exploding Endings'. Each story is told by a
child narrator in the first person about contemporary family life in suburban
Australia. All are extremely whacky and sure to illicit laughs and groans in
equal measure from Primary School children.
Book
1 begins with a list of the top 79 excuses for being late. Book 2 begins with a
list of the top 79 excuses for talking in class and the third book begins with
the top 79 excuses for not doing your homework - just the kind of subversive
humour that children relish. Jokes, riddles and 'knock knocks' appear between
stories, recipes and 'Page Wars' - the ongoing war between the right hand page
and the left hand page, named (appropriately), 'lefty' and 'righty'.
A
recipe for Murphy's Chocolate Cake has 43 steps and a Prep time of 204 days 2
hours and 17 minutes. Step 42 is 'Forget about it and go to the beach instead'.
Step 43 is 'Get eaten by a shark'. Ryan Perno's black and white illustrations,
which are little more than zany emojis in Book 1, become more sophisticated in
the books that follow.
The
final story in Book One (‘Psycho, Sweet Tooth Seagull’) ends after two chapters
with 'to be continued'. This is a hook, bound to induce readers to buy the next
book. Cleverly, Tim Harris repeats the first two chapters of 'Psycho Sweet
Tooth Seagull' in the second book so each book works as a stand-alone story
book as well as part of a series.
The
large type face, easy reading and accessible stories make these books suitable
for all children from newly independent readers (7 years and up ) tackling
their first chapter books to eleven year olds, reluctant readers included.
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