Kel Gilligan is awesomely amazing, yes he is. He's a daredevil extraordinaire. It all began way back when he was a highchair-cruising baby. This was when he first put his life at risk by eating an entire floret of - yes - you guess it.
Broccoli.
The family was horrified. There's even film footage.
Next, it was the stunt that made the ten o'clock news. Yes, caution was truly thrown to the wind when Kel most courageously faced . . . the potty of doom!
Getting dress by himself? No worries. Allowing mum to complete a phone call without interrupting her once? Easy peasy. Plunging straight into bathtime, sans fuss? You betcha. This is one incredible, awesome, death-defying kid.
But the best thing about this book is not even the subject matter (which in itself is brilliant and brilliantly funny) - it's the voice, the wordage, the illustrations, which all meld together in some kind of freakish perfect whole. Every colour, every line, every speech bubble, every dry and laugh-out-loud moment (and the pauses between those moments) is perfection.
One of my top 10 books of 2012. Let's only hope Buckley and Santat are welding themselves together at the hip, as we speak.
Title: Kel Gilligan Presents His Daredevil Stunt Show
Author: Michael Buckley
Illustrator: Dan Santat
Publisher: Abrams, $21.95 RRP
Publication Date: October 2012
Format: Hard cover with dust jacket
ISBN: 9781419703799
For ages: 5+
Type: Picture Book
