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Icky Doo Dah
'Icky Doo Dah' is a mischievous tale of a fun loving creature, who loves to cause chaos and havoc around Copperpot Farm - destroying everything in sight! Yet somehow, he always seems to get away with it.
36 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2006
6 people want to read
About the author
Simon Murray
2 booksNote: There is another author with this name.
Simon Murray is an illustrator of children's books based in the UK.
Simon Murray is an illustrator of children's books based in the UK.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 26, 2020
‘Icky Doo Dah’ by Simon Murray is a book about a creature called Icky who lives in the attic of a farmhouse and is very mischievous. He is a fluffy monster with legs, arms, feathers and horns poking out of him with big yellow eyes and sharp teeth. His favourite activities include eating spiders, dreaming of adventures, watching cowboy films and reading old books.
I had the pleasure of meeting Simon Murray at the end of last year in a primary school workshop, and he was clearly very passionate about his craft and his writing. Icky Doo Dah is entirely illustrated by himself and in the workshop he taught the Reception class how to draw his character of Icky. The children enjoyed this activity very much and it was insightful to see how his book came to life.
The majority of the pictures in the book take up a whole page and onto the next page, which could represent Icky’s bold and overpowering personality. Other smaller illustrations are littered around the book, which draws the reader’s eyes across the entire page in order to take in all the text and the images. The pictures themselves are very intricate with smaller details littered throughout such as eyes in the woods and on a book that Icky reads called “How to cause mischief – and get away with it!” This keeps the reader’s eyes looking and searching the whole book for smaller details about Icky
Within the first 5 or so pages, the pictures gradually zoom into the house Icky and Old Wiffy (the farmer) live in. It starts with an outside view of the house, zooms into the attic where Icky resides and then a view of the whole house. This engages the reader as they want to understand and see more of the setting which is gradually revealed.
The most striking thing about this book is the bright colours used throughout. The main colour theme through the entire book is the use of yellow. Inside the house Is full of yellow tones and even the book cover is yellow. In colour theory, the colour yellow connotes energy and happiness. This gives the reader more insight into Icky’s personality, as he is a very energetic creature and seems happy within his life in the attic. The bright colours used in the illustrations themselves draws the reader’s eye into the pictures and words on the page, and this is especially engaging for children reading the book as the bright colours would be very enticing. Murray also uses large brush and pen strokes to create texture and depth within the illustrations, adding another layer of detail.
One of the pages in the book has a stop-motion-like sequence of Icky sneaking down the stairs when Old Wiffy leaves the house. It shows a range of different facial expressions to show Icky’s variety of emotions and mischievous behaviours such as falling down the stairs. Lots of different versions of Icky show his high energy and erratic movements which arouse excitement and curiosity within children about what mischief Icky will get up to next.
The only issue I had with the book in the context of the classroom is the close-up illustration of Icky with the reflection of the living room in his eyes. I feel like this could be quite scary for young children. However, the picture right next to this is of Icky looking small and fluffy against a yellow background, which could reassure children that Icky is not as scary as he seems to be or thinks he is.
Overall, this book has really detailed and brightly coloured illustrations that really bring Icky’s character to life and reinforces his mischievous personality. This picture book is a fun short story that children in my Reception class loved to listen to especially after the author visit, and I feel like this would be enjoyable for many children to read.
I had the pleasure of meeting Simon Murray at the end of last year in a primary school workshop, and he was clearly very passionate about his craft and his writing. Icky Doo Dah is entirely illustrated by himself and in the workshop he taught the Reception class how to draw his character of Icky. The children enjoyed this activity very much and it was insightful to see how his book came to life.
The majority of the pictures in the book take up a whole page and onto the next page, which could represent Icky’s bold and overpowering personality. Other smaller illustrations are littered around the book, which draws the reader’s eyes across the entire page in order to take in all the text and the images. The pictures themselves are very intricate with smaller details littered throughout such as eyes in the woods and on a book that Icky reads called “How to cause mischief – and get away with it!” This keeps the reader’s eyes looking and searching the whole book for smaller details about Icky
Within the first 5 or so pages, the pictures gradually zoom into the house Icky and Old Wiffy (the farmer) live in. It starts with an outside view of the house, zooms into the attic where Icky resides and then a view of the whole house. This engages the reader as they want to understand and see more of the setting which is gradually revealed.
The most striking thing about this book is the bright colours used throughout. The main colour theme through the entire book is the use of yellow. Inside the house Is full of yellow tones and even the book cover is yellow. In colour theory, the colour yellow connotes energy and happiness. This gives the reader more insight into Icky’s personality, as he is a very energetic creature and seems happy within his life in the attic. The bright colours used in the illustrations themselves draws the reader’s eye into the pictures and words on the page, and this is especially engaging for children reading the book as the bright colours would be very enticing. Murray also uses large brush and pen strokes to create texture and depth within the illustrations, adding another layer of detail.
One of the pages in the book has a stop-motion-like sequence of Icky sneaking down the stairs when Old Wiffy leaves the house. It shows a range of different facial expressions to show Icky’s variety of emotions and mischievous behaviours such as falling down the stairs. Lots of different versions of Icky show his high energy and erratic movements which arouse excitement and curiosity within children about what mischief Icky will get up to next.
The only issue I had with the book in the context of the classroom is the close-up illustration of Icky with the reflection of the living room in his eyes. I feel like this could be quite scary for young children. However, the picture right next to this is of Icky looking small and fluffy against a yellow background, which could reassure children that Icky is not as scary as he seems to be or thinks he is.
Overall, this book has really detailed and brightly coloured illustrations that really bring Icky’s character to life and reinforces his mischievous personality. This picture book is a fun short story that children in my Reception class loved to listen to especially after the author visit, and I feel like this would be enjoyable for many children to read.
March 12, 2020
A fun and mischievous tale about a mysterious boggart-like creature living in an attic. Thoroughly enjoyed by KS1 children- a good book to have around.
August 2, 2008
great childrens book fantastic illistrations I have a signed copy of this book and Aaron met the author at school
January 29, 2017
Read this after we were visited by Peter Murray. Children really enjoyed listening to the story being read to them!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews