Friday, January 1, 2010

Topsy-Turvy Town by Luc Melanson

This charming picture book is from Tundra Books and will be published in March, 2010. The book is very good quality and the illustrations are amusing.

Do you have an imaginative child? If not, would you like to encourage them to use their imaginations? This book would be great for either type.

The young man in this story lives in Topsy-Turvy Town - and it is! Where else can you fish in your living room, or bath with a robot, or juggle a wildcat before bed? Maybe his other relatives think he's making it up, but his Mom understands...

It's 32 pages, and a fun read for children. Then let them make up their imaginary town and see how many ideas they can come create to make their town different!

This would work well for a daycare center or a reading program - it will lead to further conversation and ideas.

3 comments:

Helena Harper said...

I love imaginative stories like this, Jo, and I think - as you've said - it can lead to all kinds of conversations and ideas. One thing that occurs to me is the fact that in Topsy Turvy Town, things like bathing with a robot all seem perfectly normal. So there could be a really great conversation about what is 'normal' and what isn't, and what is 'normality' based on? You could use the book to challenge all kinds of 'accepted' thought and behaviour, to encourage children to think creatively & outside of the box. And the more children are encouraged to do that, the better! Our education system doesn't do enough of that.

Helena Harper, Author of "It's a Teacher's Life...!"
http://www.helenaharper.com

Journey of a Bookseller said...

Great comments and insight, Helena! I had a mother that I could talk about anything with. Sometimes we had to wait until my brother was in bed and we were in the dark dressing for bed so I wouldn't see her red face, but she gave me answers for any questions - embarrassing or not.

Children nowadays need more conversation in their life and more understanding about differences.

Helena Harper said...

You are so right, Jo! And once children understand more about differences, they will eventually come to understand that the "differences" are really very superficial and our common humanity is much stronger than these apparent divisions. (This is something I feel strongly about as I come from a German/English background!)

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