Little George gets sent there for saying a naughty word (fifty-seven times in the savoury biscuits aisle). Older brother Peter gets sent there for teaching the word to George. Dad Brian is next because it's all his fault.
Baby Cleopatra goes there of her own volition because there are some offcasts there on the floor that she might like to eat. Oh, and Creedence the dog hangs out there because it smells like the ratbags he loves so much.
But what of mum Maureen? Does she ever spend time in the naughty corner? Why, of course not! She never goes in the corner because none of anything is her fault. She's always good.
The naughty corner is seemingly Perfect Maureen's idea to control her family's shenanigans, but do naughty corners really work?
Thompson has penned an hilarious story in The Naughty Corner, and its messages are oh so true in a fun and poking way, but also in a rather unnerving - in fact, seriously unnerving way. The use of dog-dirty, downtrodden illustrations seem to only highlight this unnerving message... something kids will miss but that will certainly impact adults.
Despite loving the storyline, I have to say this is not my favourite Thompson book. I found the illustrations far less attractive than his usual offerings, and I found the re-use (and re-use) of images, even flipping and cutting and pasting parts of them, unsatisfying. Even the use of multimedia elements seem rushed and nowhere near as polished as usual.
Nevertheless, if you're a Thompson fan, this is definitely one to add to the collection, and the storyline is super brilliant.
Title: The Naughty Corner
Author/Illustrator: Colin Thompson
Publisher: Hachette Children's, $24.99 RRP
Publication Date: 12 July 2011
ISBN: 9780733619915
Format: Hard cover
For ages: 4 - 8
Type: Picture Book
