Review: The Naughty Corner

The Naughty Corner

Written and Illustrated by Colin Thompson

Publication date: 2011
Publisher: Hachette Australia
ISBN: 978-0-7336-1991-5


Summary/Back cover:
There are times in everyone's life when we get sent to the Naughty Corner. Sometimes we deserve it. Sometimes we don't.

The Naughty Corner and its famous cousin the Naughty Step* are supposed to be quiet places where we can sit and think about why we were sent there. Then we will see the error of our ways and return to the world as better and wiser people.

Or not.

*This book was going to be called The Naughty Step, but there's no upstairs in the house where this family lives.


Review:

I really don't know what to make of this book.  The basic storyline is that of a family who are all sent to the naughty corner for various bad behaviours - all except the Mum, who does the sending, and is seen as the boring old fuddy-duddy of the family who wouldn't know fun if it tripped over her.  The moral of the story turns out to be that the naughty corner is a fun place to be, and we should all go there more often, it seems.

With such a moral, I find it difficult to classify who this book is supposed to be for.  It is marketed towards preschoolers - but the language is not really preschoolery ("It's only one of a collection of rude words he uses whenever he can" as an example), nor is the moral a great one to be telling our preschoolers, who we know push the boundaries as it is, without us specifically teaching them that the naughty corner is actually quite a fun place to be.  It's not suitable for slightly older children, as they'll pick up on the "saying rude words gets me sent to a fun place" theme and the "Mum is boring and wrong" theme.  Yet it's not tongue-in-cheek enough to be an adults-version of a child's book.

That said - the illustrations are lovely for the most part (I'm quite disturbed by one picture, which has the 2 year old in the book carrying an axe into the naughty corner, as something to add to the "stuff they took there to stop themselves getting bored"), and my 2.5 year old has requested the book time and time again.  He doesn't understand the storyline yet, and was more interested in waiting for the bird to appear.

It's definitely not a book I'd recommend - call me boring and uptight, but the storyline is a bit odd, and not really one I want my children to start thinking too hard about.  

My rating: 1.5 out of 5 - I'm sure it has its place in some bookshelves, I just don't think it's my one, nor do I particularly know whose it is!


However, if you think it does belong on your bookshelf, you can purchase a copy here at Fishpond.

Review written by Bronwyn