Puns are Fun!

We all know the answer to …. “Why did the chicken cross the road?”
But do you know the answer to… “Why did the dinosaur cross the road?
Answer – “Because the chicken wasn’t invented yet.”

In James Foley's, award winning giggly graphic novel, CHICKENSAURUS, Dexter Maelstrom invents a de-evolving ray. This ray morphs any living creature into one of its primitive ancestors. “If you zapped a chicken, you’d get… a dinosaur.” But, not just any dinosaur, a…

CHICKENSAURUS
Written and Illustrated by: James Foley
Published by: Fremantle Press, January 2021,
Sally Tinker, the world's foremost inventor under the age of 12, is back with a new adventure in invention. When Sally's nemesis hatches a fowl and poultry plot, there's no room for the lily-livered. Sally and co will need all their pluck to return the world to its rightful pecking order. This is the fourth book in the S. Tinker Inc. series of graphic novels.

Let’s take a closer look at CHICKENSAURUS. In one of James’ favourite spreads Dexter introduces Sally, and readers to some of his Chickensaurus’

J- 'I love puns, so it was fun to come up with the names of the different chicken dinosaurs. I started with the names of the most recognisable dinosaurs and went from there. The book also features some nasty velociroosters!

In this spread, and throughout CHICKENSAURUS, James cleverly adds humour by using puns. He also sprinkles other puns throughout CHICKENSAURUS, and they all relate to chickens. Such as, “a bad egg”, “sitting ducks,” “feathering your nest,” “yolks on you,” and “walking on egg shells.” Read the book and you’ll find loads more.

However, the puns are not only in the text, but also in the illustrations.

J- 'It just make ME giggle. I had fun figuring out what our villain, Dexter Maelstrom, would have on display in his collection - I drew a bunch of parody versions of famous paintings and statues. The extinct animals aren't so funny, of course ... though I do find it silly that he somehow managed to get a stuffed woolly mammoth head.’

In this spread James is letting the illustrations speak. Allowing the reader to ‘see’ the humour by studying the details in each illustration. While at the same time providing inside jokes for the reader,

Well, that’s it from me this month, see you in June, with another great Aussie book.
 
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GIVEAWAY
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1. Comment on this blog post
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4. The winner will be announced on twitter on Monday 31St May

BIO:
Sharon Giltrow grew up in South Australia, the youngest of eight children, surrounded by pet sheep and fields of barley. She now lives in Perth, Western Australia with her husband, two children and a tiny dog. Sharon has taught for all of her career. Previously a teacher of children who are hearing impaired and Deaf-Blind, she now teaches young children with Developmental Language Disorder. Her humorous debut PB BEDTIME DADDY! released May 2020 through EK books. Sharon’s humorous follow up PB GET READY, MAMA! Is due to be released through EK books in 2022. She was awarded The Paper Bird Fellowship for Writers in 2019, during this time she wrote her early middle grade book SAMARA RUBIN AND THE UTILITY BELT, which will be released in 2021 through Clear Fork Publishing’s new imprint &MG. She was recently awarded a U-15 K Arts Grant to further develop her early middle grade series – THE UTILITY BELT.
 
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