Clown

A charming book that could be characterized as "a silent film between book covers". Follow the fortunes of Clown, an exuberant fellow who starts out in a dustbin but ends up with a happy family in this inventive picture story. Master illustrator Quentin Blake has created an irrepressible character, an action-filled plot and an eloquent story that can be read on several levels--all without the use of a single word.

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use in education - Rated
I used Clown with a year 3 class. There are so many possibilities. I used it to teach children drama, each group acted out a scene and then we put all the scenes together. I also used it to get children to add their own text and speech bubbles. These are only a couple of ideas but you can imagine that there are an endless list of ways that this book could be used in the classroom to promote creativity! Enjoy!

A wonderful picture story... - Rated
I was sorry to see that this wonderful book might be out of print. One of Blake's classics, it's a story without words, told in the way that only Blake can. The whole range of emotions are covered, with the best of happy endings. Reprint, please!

Heart-warming tale where you supply the words! - Rated
This wonderful story is told in pictures alone. Quentin Blake's cartoon style drawings are, as always, very expressive and lend themselves to a rich world of imagination. The bare bones of the story is that a group of toys are chucked out into the dustbin. Clown pulls himself out and sets out to rescue his friends by befriending anyone who will help. After a few very funny false starts, he is thrown through the window of a family who are finding it tough. The mother is exhausted and out at work, and a small girl and a baby are left to cope alone (without toys). Clown leads them to more toys and a bunch of flowers for mum. We can safely assume they all live happily ever after. In addition to being a very special book for children and adults, it is also a useful resource for those in education teaching children with English as a second language or others with special needs.