Even the Trunchbull

Episode 54 - I Am A Cat And I Like To Scratch (Into the Wild and Cat Nap) with special guest Liam

The headline news here is that we've got a special guest! Liam is our first young guest and he's brought us his second favourite book: Into the Wild, by Erin Hunter. Into the Wild is the introduction to the Warrior Cats series which is massive and hugely popular, but that we'd never heard of because we're a tiny bit too old. We talk worldbuilding, cat gods and tragic character deaths. How many cat deaths are too many cat deaths? Liam thinks it's more than four per book. Into the Wild is fast paced, exciting and very very readable. It's about a kittypet who runs away from home and becomes a wild warrior cat. Can he earn his place among those who were born free? Will he graduate to become a full member of Thunderclan? It's all up in the air in this rip-roaring middle grade action fantasy (with great maps - get the physical book for the maps alone.)

Then we go all gooey over Cat Nap, by Brian Lies. This is just a treasure of a picture book. Super simple story with stunning, high effort art. Our protagonist is Kitten, who steps through a poster advertising the Metropolitan Museum of Art in hot pursuit of a mouse. The mouse leads Kitten through a series of artworks, and as they move from bas relief to painting to sculpture, cat and mouse change shape and style to fit with their surroundings. It's very lovely. You'll want to look at it for ages.

Matt is on tour as we speak. Go here to find out if Fixing is coming to a theatre near you.

If you'd like to support us and get access to bonus content, you can join our patreon here.

Another way to support us is to shop our picks on our bookshop here

What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

 

Episode 53 - Martial Arts Mastery (The Impossible Gladiator and Let's Go to Taekwondo)

We’re kicking off season nine with the third book in the Time Keys series: The Impossible Gladiator by MG Leonard. It’s a holiday book! Our pals Sim, Jeopardy and Nelson are in Rome to take in some culture and maybe pop through a time door to 121 CE. There’s a celebrity magician trapped inside a poem by Martial, handstands on horseback, rhinos and giraffes and the Emperor Hadrian.  It’s a fantastically fun read, with Leonard’s signature blend of humour, heart and cold hard historical facts. We sing the praises of this clever, limited take on time travel and renew our calls for a book focused on Nelson!

Our picture book is Let’s Go To Taekwondo, written and illustrated by Aram Kim. This is a warm, gentle and encouraging book about facing your fears and overcoming mental blocks. The illustration style is cute and slightly cluttered, think Richard Scarry vibes, and the dojang that Kim conjures up is a real community space. It reminded Nina of being a child wrestler in the best of ways.

You can listen to our episode about The Legend of Viking Thunder here.

Matt is on tour as we speak. Go here to find out if Fixing is coming to a theatre near you.

If you'd like to support us and get access to bonus content, you can join our patreon here.

Another way to support us is to shop our picks on our bookshop here

What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

Episode 52 - Is Santa romanceable? (The Truth about Mrs Claus and Stepfather Christmas)

It's almost Christmas and we're in a silly, silly mood. Father Christmas is a wonderful mythological figure with loads of room still to stretch and change and imagine him. Today, we're looking at the women who fall in love with him.

First up, it's a story about finding a place for yourself and your passions within a strong family legacy. The Truth about Mrs Claus, by Meena Harris and illustrated by Keisha Morris is about a little teddy-making elf named Amalia. She comes from a long line of teddy-makers, and there's huge pride in this, but she just... doesn't love making teddies. Could Santa help her? Well, he's not in, but a certain Sarah B. Claus has some nuggets of wisdom to share. With women of colour front and center, this is a sweet story with a strong message about the value of seeing others break the mould when you're trying to find your own way.

Next up, Stepfather Christmas by LD Lapinski. How would you feel if your mum, single for years, suddenly announced she was bringing her boyfriend home to stay over Christmas for two whole weeks? And then, what if he happened to have a white beard, a bit of a belly, wear all red and say "ho ho ho"? Harper is convinced her new stepdad is Father Christmas. How else can you explain all the post? And the amazing hot chocolates? And the reindeer tattoos? This advent story in 25 chapters answers the question : What if you really did see Mummy kissing Santa Claus?

We'll be back with a new season in 2026! If you'd like some bonus content, including both of Nina's advent stories for children, you can join our patreon here.

Another way to support us is to shop our picks on our bookshop here

What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

Episode 51 - Rootin, Tootin, Flutin and Lootin (Three Little Vikings and The Legend of Viking Thunder)

To wrap up season eight, we've got another episode with a silly name. These books are about Vikings, although, as Matt points out, nobody really called themselves Vikings; it would be like calling yourself the Burglars.

Three Little Vikings by Bethan Woollvin is a cute and funny story structured like a fairytale. Three times is the village practically knocked over. Three times do the little vikings warn their chieftain. Three times does he not listen, and finally, the kids take it into their own hands and use the chieftain as bait to catch a troll. The art style is fantastically modern and classic feeling at the same time, with a Moominish touch to it. The foreshadowing (using a literal shadow) is great. We love a gruesome ending too.

The second book in MG Leonard's Time Keys series, the Legend of Viking Thunder, is packed full of history facts, and music, and research, and Doctor Who-ish timey-wimeyness. It's got complicated family relationships. It's got a fantastic storm at sea aboard a Viking longboat.  It's got a nefarious governing body and kids on the run. What more could you possibly want? Dripping with Leonard's trademark charm, this is custom made to slide into your school library. Stories are, after all, the light by which we forge paths into the future. They are what has been, what is, and what will be. They are the world. You've got to have stories to wile away a cold November night in a smoke-filled longhouse. There's only so many chicken legs you can eat in the dark.

The organisation that helped Bethan Woollvin with Three Little Vikings is Inclusive Minds, here

The interview of MG Leonard by Polly Ho-Yen can be heard here

You can learn more about the educational framework that Matt mentioned, the Mantle of the Expert, here

We're going on a bit of a break now, but we'll be back before too long with a Christmas special. And if you can't wait that long, now's a great time to join our patreon here. Matt's just finished narrating our first audiobook and that's where you can get Nina's advent stories too.

Another way to support us is to shop our picks on our bookshop here

What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

 

Episode 50 - Angry Boys (The Boy Who Kicked Pigs and Angry Arthur) with guest Doug Deans

This episode is about little boys who live in cosy middle England at some point in the second half of the twentieth century and want to see the world burn.

Both books were picked by our lovely guest Doug Deans, a playwright, actor and parent. The Boy Who Kicked Pigs, by Colin Baker and illustrated by David Roberts is a baffling, disgusting bit of snuff. It's naughty, it's irreverent, it vehemently resists moralising and it made us feel a little bit ill. You won't want to give this one to the young person in your life, but you do want them to find it on their own and enjoy the illicit thrill of it.

Angry Arthur, by Hiawyn Oram and Satoshi Kitamura, is an ode to the pointless destructiveness of anger. Is it about nuclear war? Is it about toxic masculinity? Is it simply about a toddler's tantrum? Who can say. The art is completely gorgeous. This one is a classic for a reason.

Here is a clip of Kill The Beast's adaptation of The Boy Who Kicked Pigs.

You can see Doug's new play at the Omnibus here in January.

Fixing is on tour as we speak, and you can find out if Matt's coming to your town here https://mattmillertheatre.com/

To support us on Patreon and access bonus content, go here

Another way to support us is to shop our picks on our bookshop here

What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

Episode 49 - All the world's a stage (Lights Up and Yes You Can, Cow!)

This week we're zooming in on a setting that's close to Matt's heart: the theatre. Actors and plays are often devices in children's stories, and often they're mocked, so here we are, giving them a whole episode.

First up is the phenomenally ambitious Lights Up, by Lisette Auton. There's a touch of spooky in the air, the theatre is full of ghosts and the whole place is crawling with spiders. But they're nice spiders! Except when they're being used for evil. In typical Lisette Auton style, we have a range of cool disabled characters, a protagonist who needs to chill out about being the main character, and a touch of whimsical magic.

Then we're exploring stage fright through Yes You Can, Cow!, by Rashmi Sirdeshpande and Rikkin Parekh. What do you do in Hey Diddle Diddle when the cow cannot in fact jump over the moon? It's such a silly, clever book, this one. We had a nice chat about flow states and trying too hard, and giving anxious performers the right amount of scaffolding.

The organisation Matt was talking about, in relation to ramps at theatre shows, is here https://rampsonthemoon.co.uk/

And Fixing is on tour as we speak, and you can find out if Matt's coming to your town here https://mattmillertheatre.com/

To support us on Patreon and access bonus content, go here

Another way to support us is to shop our picks on our bookshop here

What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

Episode 48 - Jump scares from the 90s (Monster Blood and Funnybones: The Ghost Train)

There are two things we always celebrate over here at Even The Trunchbull: back to school, and of course, Halloween. This is a nostalgic one for us! We are reading two spooky books that came out the year of our birth (1992).

First up is Goosebumps #3: Monster Blood, by RL Stine. Matt remembers an abiding sense of loneliness reading this book as a 7 year old. Nina likens it to eating a packet of crisps. It's good fun! Long live useless parents and unlikeable protagonists in kidlit, say we. There's also a dramatic reading of some very funny fan mail to RL Stine. 

Next up is the funny and gentle The Ghost Train by Allan Ahlberg, illustrated by Andre Amstutz. Is the ghost town depicted within Whitley Bay or Skegness? Answers on a postcard (from your own seaside town). It's a lovely one for learning to read, learning tell the time and learning to tell jokes. All the most important skills. Do you believe in babies?

If you want to see Matt touring Fixing, you can find out more about the tour here https://mattmillertheatre.com/

To support us on Patreon and access bonus content, go here

Another way to support us is to shop our picks on our bookshop here

What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

Episode 47 - Fat (Jax Freeman and the Phantom Shriek and Dim Sum Palace)

It's the long-awaited episode about fat kids in kidlit. We could go on forever about all the negative representation of fatness in children's literature, but it has taken us years to find two books that depict bigger kids in a way that met our standards.

First, we've got the fantastic Jax Freeman and the Phantom Shriek by Kwame Mbalia. This is an absolute doorstop of a book, and yet, so readable, so quick to read. We chat engaging narrators, playing with the tropes and breaking them when need be. This book is action packed and fun and has so much heart. All aboard!

Then we've got the beautiful Dim Sum Palace by X Fang. Do you have a little baby that's shaped like a dumpling? Then you need to read them this book. It's a gentle going to bed story, a celebration of eating and the pleasure of food, with a brilliant dream sequence. There's also a little diversion into our own childhood dreams.

If you want to see Matt touring Fixing, you can find out more about the tour here https://mattmillertheatre.com/

To support us on Patreon and access bonus content, go here

Another way to support us is to shop our picks on our bookshop here

What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

Episode 46 - 80s Girl Power (The Paper Bag Princess and Alanna: The First Adventure)

Today we're looking at books written in the eighties and aiming to empower girls. First up, we have a listener request: The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch and Michael Martchenko. So good it was endorsed by the National Organisation for women! We've had a couple of ideas for fanfiction already.

Our chapter book is Alanna: The First Adventure by the inimitable Tamora Pierce. Lots of reading aloud from this brilliant book. We talk about the ways it's aged well (and the ways it hasn't so much). A proper sex and relationships education for a girl starting her period (plus magic contraception)? Learning hand to hand fighting from the king of the thieves? Yes please. We also spend some time bemoaning the cover art from the early 2000s edition.

Remember that's the end of the season, but we will be back in a month!

If you want to see Matt touring Fixing, you can find out more about the tour here https://mattmillertheatre.com/

To support us on Patreon and access bonus content, go here

Another way to support us is to shop our picks on our bookshop here

What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com

Episode 45 - The New Girl (Super Goat Girl and Jummy at the River School)

It's our annual back to school episode, and this year, we're reading books about being the new girl.

First, we're accompanying Super Goat Girl for her first day in Miss Damsel's classroom. Noodle Boy and Laser Lass aren't sure whether bleating loudly and chomping properly count as superpowers. Miss Damsel says it'll all work out though. And we find out what three ingredients mix together to form a black hole.

Then we're riding the bus with Jummy from Lagos to the River School. It's so exciting, she's passed the exams and now she's in! House rivalries, academic challenge, sports victories and midnight feasts await her. It's a really wonderful school if you can afford to go... 

You can read a sample of Jummy At The River School here

If you want to see Matt touring Fixing, you can find out more about the tour here https://mattmillertheatre.com/

To support us on Patreon and access bonus content, go here

Another way to support us is to shop our picks on our bookshop here

What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com