Normal Norman Book Review

I've been waiting a while for this book to come through for me to review. It was actually recommended to me by a lovely PR. The title itself, Normal Norman got me thinking just what is classed as normal?

"Allow me to introduce Norman. He will help me demonstrate the word normal. You see, Norman is EXCEEDINGLY normal. Regular. Ordinary. A common, everyday creature. Let us examine him."

What I love instantly about this story is just how it is presented. There is a girl, the junior scientist who is introduced to us as the narrator. This gives the book a kind of personalised feel, as if they are really talking to you, the reader.

Now this scientist wants to do just one thing, define the word normal and to do this she is using regular old Norman. We are told that he is the most average animal on earth and this is precisely why he makes the best subject to demonstrate just what is meant by the word normal.

As we turn the pages it becomes clear that Norman isn't quite as average as first thought and what the scientists first thought was normal turns out to not be the case at all. The way the words are wrote down make you want to read them in an expressive way and that's exactly what I did with my kids.

And it isn't just the writing that draws you in, the illustrations by S.britt are superbly drawn. The colours used are quite muted but work so well in helping to tell the story. I loved the different colour speech bubbles which were showing us what poor old Norman was both saying and thinking because yes you've guessed it just to throw the scientist of course, Norman can talk.

The further we got through the book the more we laughed, Norman isn't prepared to make things easy for our little junior scientist and what becomes the clear message by the time you reach the end of the story is that in reality there is no such thing as normal, it just can't be defined. Just because society tells us that for example monkeys like bananas, doesn't mean that they won't like pizza too (could be true).

Priced at £10.99, Normal Norman is a book that both entertains and teaches a vital lesson at the same time. I think it shows kids that it is in fact a good thing to be different from others around you.