How Rude! by Clare Helen Walsh, illustrated by Olivier Tallec

Today it’s my stop on the ‘How Rude!,’ blog tour a hilarious picture book collaboration written by Clare Helen Walsh and illustrated by Olivier Tallec. I’m a big fan of picture books that can be used to inspire conversations and ask important questions. It’s so much easier to share a story and talk to children about how they feel after listening to a story, rather than just talk at them. In ‘How Rude,’ Clare and Olivier have created a hilarious and chaotic story about the carnage that happens when good manners are quite outrageously thrown out of the window. When Duck turns up at Dot’s tea party Dot is seriously dismayed that Duck just rudely barges through the door. Little does he know that this is just the start of a litany of bad behaviour, which makes Dot increasingly more and more cross. Things go from bad to worse when Dot can’t take any more, will their friendship survive the afternoon?

Clare cleverly demonstrates the importance of manners by making Duck’s behaviour so appalling and shocking that the reader can never be in doubt that Duck is completely pushing the boundaries of acceptability. The repetition of ‘How Rude,’ throughout the text emphasises the poor manners that are being used, making it easy for younger readers to understand what is happening. Dot is surprisingly patient at first accepting Duck’s erratic behaviour as just a part of his personality, but there is only so much that anyone can stand and Dot eventually breaks. Brilliantly Duck is horrified when the table is turned and cannot believe how Dot has reacted. Our dreadful duo soon realise the errors of their ways and harmony is restored. Olivier’s sparse but bold illustrations draw your eye to the images allowing all the focus to be on the bad behaviour and perfectly capture the carnage ensuing. I particularly like how he’s managed to capture the incredulous feelings of Dot and Duck in their facial expressions. Funny and thoughtful in equal measures, this is an excellent story for sharing with children at home and in school.

Blog Tour

Why not join in with the rest of the blog tour for reviews, guest posts and giveaways.

Thank you to Clare and Quarto for inviting me to join in with this blog tour and for sending me a copy of this funny book. ‘How Rude!,’ is released on October 4th and is available to pre-order online or from any good bookshop.