What is up with that Caterpillar?

To be honest I could never understand why the Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle was so popular. I suppose it may be because I have never read it before in its entirety. So we shall delve into a blow by blow account of what has been called 'The Greatest Children's Book of All Time'* 

Let's begin. (SPOILER ALERT)

Cover: Hmm, looks promising, it is quite an iconic cover and I enjoy the contrast of green and red
Pg. 1 Aww, for his sister Christa, how sweet. Do those dots look like gumballs to anyone else?
Pg.2 In the space of three pages I have been informed of the book's title twice. 
Pg. 3 The alliteration is lovely! Although I am slightly dissapointed that it doesn't rhyme. 
Pg.4 I have noticed a smiling face in the moon which I quite enjoy.
Pg. 5 It seems somewhat unrealistic for the caterpillar to 'pop!' out of the egg, but it does somewhat reinforce the thing about the gumballs before.  
Pg.6 The sun is quite a relaxed figure. Little do they know it's 5,600 Celsius on the surface and 15,000,000 Celsius at its center, probably making it hard to chill out. 
Pg. 7 I also enjoy that the caterpillar can walk on its back hind legs.
Pg. 8 CRISIS! in that this is where the pages become the half page things (I'll count them as one page even though they are double sided) and also I am feeling an affinity to the caterpillar because I am getting quite hungry myself. Monday is an apple. Good choice,good choice
Pg. 9 Perhaps he wouldn't be so hungry if her ate the entire pear instead of only through two 
Pg. 10 I must say that I do like the collage effect of the illustrations, it pleasantly reminds me of my kindergarten days
Pg. 11 The strawberries are adorable (I didn't even know that you could have adorable fruit). His hunger is becoming a real problem.
Pg. 12 From a logical point of view, eating through oranges would be really painful and acidic. Did you know that your stomach has enough acid in it to burn a hole in a rug. I don't know if that's true because it came from a questionable education video made in the 90s. 
Pg. 13 Now he has changed from fruit which is bound to be a bad idea and I have an urge to flip to the end. BUT I CAN'T RUIN THE STORY!! I like how he eats a pickle, it's just very random - especially for a kids books. And salami! WWtWHOS (What would the World Health Organisation say?
Pg. 14 Also, it has resumed normal pages. OH MY GOODNESS THE CATERPILLAR HAS A STOMACHACHE. It looks so sad. :(
Pg. 15 It's nice how there's holes in the book. Adds a bit of texture and excitement. 
Pg.16 Good work, eat some leaves like you're supposed to. 

Pg. 17 He is very fat now. His legs are strangely distributed. 
Pg. 18 I feel like a lot of action has happened on this page. Built a house AND stayed inside AND nibbled a way out
Pg. 19 I am actually taken aback by his transformation. He is very colour and skinny, lost a lot of weight too. So does the fat become his wings or not??
Back Page THERE IS NO BLURB WHAT IS THIS?!

I'm sorry if I've ruined the story for you.
Happy Reading!

* I couldn't actually find a source for this quote but I'm sure someone has said it. 

This is Extremely Anti Bookshop

To tie in with the James Bond theme (whoops spoiler, that's next Facebook post but it hasn't been posted yet. Hahah. Anyway), we'll be examining in depth (I lie) watching the film before reading the book. A travesty I know! But I will admit that I have not read any James Bond but will be doing it soon. 

JAMES BOND by IAN FLEMMING 

I mean what can we say? Spectre has just come out - I've seen it! (and yes I had to close my eyes/put my cardigan on my head for some of it. I am kind of squeamish), the fourth Daniel Craig installment and does not dissapoint. Even though it's more than two hours it passes quite quickly - not to mention pokes a little bit of fun at itself in a few scenes. 

 
It spans across...a few continents and I also managed to decide on my new haircut.

Anyway!  Back to the books, Casino Royale, the first of the series was released in 1953 and very quickly rose to popularity with a number of others including Dr No, For Your Eyes Only and Gold Finger. I absolutely adore the covers of the Vintage series because of that kind of nod to days gone by (we have them here by the way).

I guess I can't really talk about the books when I haven't read them yet... which makes this post slightly defeated in purpose. 

For the really hardcore fans, I have found an interesting article about the impacts on pop culture that Bond has had since its release. Check it out here.

Look, why don't I get back to you about these. Wishful thinking perhaps but let's hope that they are not terribly sexist and the like 

Sometimes you do need to watch the film before reading, I can't believe that I just admitted that, because it grabs your attention at a superficial level and when you enjoy it enough you can pick up the nuances of the backstory so often present in the books.

Give us a call if you want to start your collection!  

** Edit
Okay, I have since read two James Bond books - although not in order. They were Dr No and Thunderball. I will admit that I am a little torn. While I enjoy the spy/action stories and they are easy reads (I find, to get through in a day or two) it's annoying how blatantly racist and sexist he is! Yeah yeah it was of that era, I get that but now I suppose it's just how much do you want to read it versus how much can you take of his annoyingness. I'm glad that the movies are a lot more subtle and regular in this effect. Yes he is quite a 'ladies man' (ahem ahem) but at least in the films it's because he actually likes them - or believes he does. In the books they really come across as objects/naive and childlike so you can kind of take advantage of them but happen to be the 'perfect' balance of the experienced femme fatale and innocent girl. Argh. He also seems to just do it for the sake of sleeping with a new girl in each new book, I suppose that the films don't differ too much there but again - slightly more substance? But in terms of the stories, it's interesting to see them on paper in all their original glory. The books also reveal a lot more of his insecurities and fears. Many times has he thought he was going to die or that he'd 'had it!' (obviously not because there's another five books after that particular one) so it's interesting to see the person he is underneath. Kinda. Anyway, I suppose everyone has to read one at least once so give it a go! You can decide your own verdict.

Next series?? Sherlock Holmes! Yeah I know I haven't read it either...  

‘Name: Bond, James. Height: 183cm, weight: 76 kilograms; slim build; eyes: blue; hair: black; scar down right cheek and on left shoulder; signs of plastic surgery on back of right hand; all-round athlete; expert pistol shot, boxer, knife-thrower; does not use disguises. Languages: French and German. Smokes heavily (NB: special cigarettes with three gold bands); vices: drink, but not to excess, and women. Not thought to accept bribes.’

Ian Fleming, From Russia With Love

- See more at: http://www.ianfleming.com/james-bond-2/#sthash.bnqkydJt.dpuf

‘Name: Bond, James. Height: 183cm, weight: 76 kilograms; slim build; eyes: blue; hair: black; scar down right cheek and on left shoulder; signs of plastic surgery on back of right hand; all-round athlete; expert pistol shot, boxer, knife-thrower; does not use disguises. Languages: French and German. Smokes heavily (NB: special cigarettes with three gold bands); vices: drink, but not to excess, and women. Not thought to accept bribes.’

Ian Fleming, From Russia With Love

- See more at: http://www.ianfleming.com/james-bond-2/#sthash.bnqkydJt.dpuf

‘Name: Bond, James. Height: 183cm, weight: 76 kilograms; slim build; eyes: blue; hair: black; scar down right cheek and on left shoulder; signs of plastic surgery on back of right hand; all-round athlete; expert pistol shot, boxer, knife-thrower; does not use disguises. Languages: French and German. Smokes heavily (NB: special cigarettes with three gold bands); vices: drink, but not to excess, and women. Not thought to accept bribes.’

Ian Fleming, From Russia With Love

- See more at: http://www.ianfleming.com/james-bond-2/#sthash.bnqkydJt.dpuf

Forget Tiffany's and Harry Winston's - Chronicle and Taschen!

You know you're a bit of a book geek when you have favourite publishers. That';s right, publishers - not authors. It's just that some of them are so darn pretty that it's impossible not to love them. 

Now the reason why I love them is probably because they publish the most amazing art and design books so what's not to love? So if you're looking for sport books I can't really help you there. Here is my list of top four publishers.

1. Lawrence King
I swear I'm not just skimming through my own library but I recently discovered that I a lot of my favourite literary gems were by Lawrence King. Including the 'This is___' series that I've previously mentioned but I won't again because it probably seems like I work for them. Anyway, I actually don't really have anything to say on these houses you basically just have to search them up and I dare you to not find anything you like.
This is Graphic Design Visionaries and as you'd expect, about graphic design visionaries. Lovely! And interesting of course

2. Chronicle Books
Chronicle for me always seems more technical - although I feel like this is probably slightly unfounded and just a general statement. Anyway! If the two publishing houses below are written in cursive script then Chronicle is stamped rough and ready, by no means less aesthetically pleasing. I enjoy just how specific books can get. Take for example 'Editorial Design' that looks at how layouts are designed and how they've had to change over the development of the internet. Riveting I know but this actually holds a fun place in my personal library...

 
  
3. Taschen
A German based company, they are responsible for a lot of the massive coffee table bad boys you see around our shelves- especially in the art section (of course).  These guys are the real (and literal heavy weights) proving that you can have brains and beauty all in one. Sigh. 

4. Phaidon
Phaidon is also excellent for cookbooks! I believe last weeks post were Phaidon books as well just proving that they are everywhere. They have some lovely design ones too of course. Also beginning in Europe - Vienna to be precise, these nations must have something in their water that forces them to turn out such beautiful books