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The Car Ride ¦ A Good Job

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BfK No. 58 - September 1989

Cover Story
The illustration on our cover by Catherine Denvir is taken from the Lions Tracks edition of Where Nobody Sees by James Watson (0 00 672986 X, £2.50 pbk) published by Collins. We are grateful to Collins for help in using this illustration.

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The Car Ride

John Burningham
(Walker Books Ltd)
978-0744513011, RRP £2.99, Paperback
Under 5s Pre-School/Nursery/Infant
Buy "Car Ride" on Amazon

A Good Job

John Burningham
(Walker Books Ltd)
978-0744513004, RRP £2.99, Paperback
Under 5s Pre-School/Nursery/Infant
Buy "Good Job" on Amazon

Yes. Well. When you consider what John Burningham is really capable of - the bare bones authenticity of The Blanket, My Dog or My Baby, the simple, logical entertainment of Mr Gumpy's Outing - how are the mighty fallen? The pictures are good as ever and very Burningham - spare, understated and pale - but the text is poor stuff.

Of the two A Good Job is probably the better. Written in a 'rat-a-ta-tar' rhyme pattern, it describes the problems facing a boy and teddybear who come to clean the house. But the rhythm sometimes falters and the rhyme deteriorates into banality. As for The Car Ride, take my advice: if you want a really good story about a trip in a car by John Burningham, then read Mr Gumpy's Motor Car. I found The Car Ride very difficult to read; some pages do rhyme, some don't, the rhythm stops with a clunk several times and the idea seems rather ordinary.

The children were interested in the books as soon as they recognised the artist but, although they enjoyed a first reading of both of them, agreed that they much preferred 'Mr Gumpy' because, as Daniel said, 'there's more in them and they're easier to read'.

Reviewer: 
Liz Waterland
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