A Little 'Sock Monkey'...

I had to take my youngest daughter to get a tooth filled, the other day, and it just so happens that Crofton Books is a few doors down so I thought I'd sweeten the deal with a couple of books for her. It half worked, I find myself owing her ten pounds as well as the books, not sure what happened there. But anyway...

It wasn't just the littl'un who did well book-wise though, I saw a couple of 'Sock Monkey' books (as well as an original copy of the 'Dreaming City' graphic novel, that's another story though)and after having enjoyed the last one so much, I grabbed them before anyone else realised that they were there. I mean, at the time it was just me and my daughters in the shop but you know what I mean... Which kind of leads me to this post, another short one purely because I'm spending the day with my daughters and I really should get some sleep before that happens ;o) The books I found were...


'Sock Monkey: A Children's Book'

Tells the story of Sock Monkey, who joins a group of come-to-life toys when he is made from the Captain's socks as a birthday present for Ann-Louise.


'Sock Monkey: The Glass Doorknob'

Is it magic, science or both? And does it really matter when a simple doorknob can bring such joy...?

Now when I saw these two books, I was immediately looking forward to more of what I found in 'The Adventures of Sock Monkey', namely the slightly manic adventures coupled with a bit of random destruction along the way. We don't get that here though, possibly because the stories are more tightly focussed, I don't know...

It's a shame that this is the approach taken here as there was something very innocent and childlike about Uncle Gabby and Mr Crow leaving a trail of destruction that they'll never know about or have to deal with (says the guy who had to tidy up his daughter's room as she'd managed to blow her own mind with how untidy it was...) Having said that though, there's a lot to recommend both books and I'd still say pick them up.

'Sock Monkey' is very much an 'origin story' and it's really sweet to see Uncle Gabby and Mr Crow meet for the first time. What really got me though is that the air of dreamlike weirdness, that you think is an affectation, is actually what it's like in the house on a daily basis. The Captain says so himself when he remarks on yet another doll coming to life in the house. All of a sudden, things don't seem like a random dream anymore , this is actually happening somewhere and I love that.

And 'The Glass Doorknob' is just beautiful in that you get to experience the beauty of science through the eyes of, well... not exactly children but not far off either. It takes you back to a simpler time where you had all the time in the world to work things out, at least nine out of ten times you'd get it wrong but it didn't matter ;o) I'll be honest, I'm not sure I ever had days like that but 'The Glass Doorknob' makes you really feel like you did.

And it's all illustrated by that slightly surreal but just gorgeous artwork, the stories may feel a little lightweight at times but when you can just lose yourself in the art, it all balances out.

And so ends another 'please read 'Sock Monkey' post. If you see one of these books in the wild, do give it a shot; you won't regret it.

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