Have You Seen Who's Just Moved in Next Door to Us? by Colin McNaughton

by Colin McNaughton

An assortment of monstrous neighbors becomes increasingly apprenhensive about the strange new family that's just moved into the neighborhood.

Genres: Poetry, Picture Books, Childrens

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Growing up in his native England, the young Colin McNaughton had little indication that he would one day become an author-illustrator. There were no books at all in his parents' home, he recalls, but there were always comics. These were his formative literature, and their slapstick humor has been a lasting influence. "I've been talking about the comic format for years," he says. "It's the modern way of telling stories for today's children; it's about movement, the step between film and the book."


Colin McNaughton says he "hated school. The word 'school' still gives me nightmares." Opting for technical college, he admits he even "made a mess of getting in there -- I'd filled out the application wrong, and when I turned up for registration they'd never heard of me!" So he worked at odd jobs for the next year before entering art school. Although his first book was published while he was still in school, Colin McNaughton did not immediately become a full-time artist. He first tried editorial and advertising work, but did not find the satisfaction that he got out of creating children's books. "At the end of it, there it is, a book on the shelf, not like a newspaper in the gutter. In fact, once you start thinking about it, it's a smashing job!" If the response to his books is any indication, children and adults seem to agree that Colin McNaughton is doing a "smashing job."


Colin McNaughton lives in London with his wife.

Reviews

[Nazakat El Enna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book with great images. Really good for introducing “speech bubbles” in class and brackets. Great for children to join in and chime into repeated lines. Also good in introducing and/or recalling rhyming. Great suspense and can also use in class for predictions.

In all, great images and super fun book!

[Rebekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book that entices you in by making you think about what possible creature could be moving onto the street if all the things already living there are so weird and wacky! There is loads of humour in the details throughout this book, the speech bubbles that are part of the illustrations made me chuckle and they add that little something special to an already great book

[Jane Scholey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this fun book - what a great read.

[Isobel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is excellent for encouraging children to join in with poetry because it is full of repetitive phrases and it makes the reader want to find out more about who is the new neighbour.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a very long poem in 4-lined stanzas per page. An assortment of monstrous neighbours becomes increasingly apprehensive about the strange new family that's just moved into the neighbourhood. It tells you about most of the people on a Vampire family's road. There is King Kong, Humpty Dumpty, Mr. Rex, and many other amusing characters. The people who have just moved in are humans everyone else isn't. Werewolves, Superman, The Sea Monster and others aren't very happy - no one is! I really like this book a lot and I highly recommend it to 7 - 10 year olds and anyone and everyone else who has a liking to humour. This book has got lots of jokes in it and lots of funny phrases and lots of beautiful pictures by Charles McNaughton.

[Wayne Farmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant book for kids - not only is the story spooky, and amusing, but there is so much going on in the illustrations (little jokes on each page, things to spot, etc) that it will keep a child amused for ages. Great Fun!

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth a re-read with so much going on on every page. A very 1980s kids book.