Diary of an Ogre

Dismayed that the world of ogres seems to be coming to an end, because all of his peers have become interested in being fashionable and clean, the ogre narrator of this rhyming picture-book from Argentina confides in his diary that he has a plan to set things right. Opening a school for ogres, he teaches truly nasty subjects, from creating clothing from foul-smelling rags to cooking traditional dishes such as "Marinated Children and Pig's Feet..."

Originally published in Spanish as Diario de un ogro, this is the fourth and final fairy-tale diary I have read from co-authors Valeria Dávila and Mónica López and illustrator Laura Aguerrebehere, following upon their Diary of a Fairy, Diary of a Witch and Diary of a Monster, all translated show more by David Warriner for the Montreal-based CrackBoom! Books. Like these other three, the text of Diary of an Ogre left a bit to be desired, with an awkward sometimes rhyming/sometimes not rhyming structure that is rather distracting. I put this down to issues of translation, much as I did with previous entries in the series. It's rather unfortunate that these books have such textual issues, as their story ideas, content and artwork will all be appealing to picture-book audiences who appreciate fractured fairy-tale fare. Here you have the added interest of grossness, with all of the burping, farting and foul-smelling activities - something sure to appeal to youngsters who enjoy the scatological humor of works like Walter the Farting Dog, or Everyone Poops. Although aware that the text is flawed, I would still recommend this one to picture-book readers who enjoy these sorts of tales. show less

This is the second book I have read in The Diary series by Valeria Dávila. I was not impressed with the witch diary, but this one sure makes up for it. The world of ogres is nearing the end, so the Ogre writing this diary decides to start a school to teach the old, disgusting, gross Ogre Culture. His classes include subjects like, Spits and burps, healthy eating (fly ice-cream) and making clothes out of rags that smell like fart. This book will be a hit with the kids. They love gross things, especially the boys. There are rewards being given for things like not changing your underwear and more. The illustrations are wonderful. They are detailed, colourful and gross. They add even more to the text. My grandson kept pointing things out show more to me telling me that is yucky Grandma, but he kept wanting me to read more and we kept going back to look at the illustrations. The text is relatively easy to read, but there are a few challenging words thrown in to develop vocabulary such as, pristine, traditional and marinated. A great book for a primary classroom or school library. It will be a hit at Hallowe'en. The publisher, Chouette Publishing - CrackBoom! Books, provided me with a copy of this book to read. The opinions stated are my own. show less

Ce n’est pas tout à fait ce à quoi je m’attendais à la lecture du titre et de la présentation par l’éditeur, mais c’est un livre amusant, pour voir le monde du point de vue de l’ogre, ce que les histoires habituelles ne nous permettent guère. Un livre d’anti-éducation, pour s’amuser de tout ce que les enfants n’ont pas le droit de faire, avec des dessins plutôt amusants, parfois en décalage complet avec le texte qu’ils accompagnent, ce qui permet de développer le sens de l’observation et de l’interprétation chez les enfants.
Ça ne casse pas trois pattes à un canard, mais c’est amusant, et parfois on a besoin de ces lectures qui détendent et permettent de passer un moment de simple rigolade entre show more enfants et parents. show less