A colourful and comical tour through history from cartoonists Mike Barfield and Jess Bradley.
The hilarious minds behind A Day in the Life of a Poo, a Gnu and You have teamed up once again – this time to give a taste of the daily lives of the people, animals and objects who made history.
Featuring a day in the life of early humans as they paint mammoths on the walls of a cave, a fierce gladiator battling in the Colosseum and the first woman in space. And not forgetting the animals of history – from an Egyptian cat (worshipped as a god, of course) to an albatross flying over Rapa Nui and a dog in the trenches of the First World War.
Readers can also discover the stories behind famous constructions, including the Great Wall of China and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, and delve into the secret diaries of a Viking, Isaac Newton’s cat and the wooden panel that became the Mona Lisa.
With over 90 entries told in the friendly, informative style of Mike Barfield and brought to life by Jess Bradley’s brilliantly funny illustrations, this book will have children learning and laughing as they go.
Mike Barfield is a writer, poet, performer, songwriter, ukulele player and cartoonist. He has written extensively for TV and radio – with credits as diverse as Spitting Image, The Dennis the Menace and Gnasher Show and five years on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. His cartoon feature Apparently has appeared in the pages of Private Eye for over 20 years, and his drawings have been on display in the Cartoon Museum, the V & A, the Museum of London and Nigella Lawson’s downstairs loo.
His Destroy This Book series (published by Buster Books) has been sold around the world, starting with the Destroy This Book In The Name of Science!: Einstein Edition 2017. The Galileo and Brainiac editions were hot on its heels, and Destroy This Book in the Name of Maths and Destroy This Book in the Name of Art are both on the horizon. All of them are unique activity books where the reader doodles on, colours, and cuts up the pages, making over a dozen amazing working models in the process! Every page, including the cover, is an interactive experience – as well as being huge fun!
Mike is also the author of a series of hilarious random insult making books published by Laurence King. ‘The Ultimate Insult Generator’ (aka The Ultimate Wisecrack Generator’ in the USA) was a huge Christmas hit, and will be followed this September by ‘The Ultimate Spell-caster’ – more fun, but with a Halloweeny-feel.
Mike is also the author of a fact-filled, funny and beautifully illustrated children’s guide to the Periodic Table -‘The Element in the Room’. With drawings by up-and-coming illustrator Lauren Humphrey, the book encourages readers to hunt for the elements hiding in their homes, in the company of scientific detective Sherlock Ohms.
Mike has a first-class degree in botany and zoology from King’s College, London, and his ever first book many years ago was also a children’s science title – a tie-in for the ITV kids’ science series Panic Station. His second was the Oldie’s Dictionary for Our Time. He also edited the last great Beachcomber collection: ‘Cram Me With Eels!’. His comic dictionary This Septic Isle was published by Ebury.
He has five poems in the children’s poetry selection When Granny Won Olympic Gold, edited by Graham Denton. He has only one poem in the poetry collection, Best of Enemies, Best of Friends (compiled by Brian Moses) but they did at least put it on the cover. His most recent published poetry can be found in the collections A First Poetry Book by Pie Corbett and Gaby Morgan, and Is This A Poem, by Roger Stevens. Both highly recommended for use in primary schools.
He still cartoons for Private Eye, writes and performs poetry and comedy, often to the accompaniment of a ukulele. He also invented squirrel fishing.
He can easily be persuaded to give a very entertaining talk about his multifaceted career, and is best approached through his website at http://www.mikebarfield.co.uk
Oh, and perhaps uniquely, he also presents a clicking, clanking circus of clockwork toys. Who else on Amazon can give you all this?
My favourite book of this year!!
I like the way the information is set out, like a comic. Lots of funny little parts and cartoons. I have taken this book to school when we were learning about the guillotine. My class friends got to look through it and our teacher read us parts to do with our lessons.
My favourite parts were the news flash sections.
Mums thoughts – This book has definitely been a hit! I’ve loved the random “Mum, did you know….” and off she would go with the new piece of information that she had read that day. Lilys teacher was especially impressed with the book, how child friendly it was and how engaged the children were with its content. BIG thumbs up from both parent and teacher!
Orchard Book Club's Mini Reviewers 