Cows of Our Planer by Gary Larson

Cows of Our Planet by Gary Larson is the thirteenth collection of The Far Side comic strips and the majority of the cartoons have to do with animals; it is not a concentrated look at  cows as the cover and title might lead you to believe. However, there are cow cartoons scattered throughout, and the centre of the book is devoted to a fold out colour section of  Cows of Our Planet, which consists of six panels depicting  very strange cows that inhabit Earth. The comics rely on a combination of a visual and verbal jokes. The Far Side was immensely popular in the 1980's with its popularity continuing well into the nineties until Larson retired on  the 1st of January 1995. His works are still popular and his twenty-three book of collected cartoons are still sort after today. 

This one below is pretty funny:

Thelwell's Brat Race by Norman Thelwell

Bringing up children has never been easy and anyone who thinks it is obviously has never had children. Here is Norman Thelwell's tongue in cheek child-rearing manual, and it is a humorous read. His cartoons say it all. The chapters are:

The Little Stranger, What's in a Name?, The Little Mystics, Children's Pets, Toys and Presents, Children's Ward, How to give a Party, Things That Go Bump in the Night, and...How to Keep Them Happy. So if you are looking for some light reading just grab this book off the shelves on the Little Library of Rescued Books.

Sadly, this wonderful author, cartoonist, is no longer with us but he will live on through his publications. To find out more about this famous British cartoonist and his works, click on the link below to go straight to his website:

http://www.thelwell.org.uk/

Garfield: The All-Round Sports Star by Jim Davis

Ahhh, Naplan in May, I think I definitely need to put some light-hearted reading out there in the classroom. I grew up with Garfield and hope today's generation can still appreciate these comic strips, and that furthermore...the sarcasm, tongue in cheek statements and puns can contribute to their comprehension abilities in some meaningful and statistically measurable way. Anyone who owns a rather large cat will appreciate these humorous (note the spelling of humorous, could be in the Naplan spelling test, you never know...) glimpses into the feline world. Long suffering owner Jon can deal with just about anything Garlfield dishes up. This cat reminds me so much of our always hungry Neptune (Tuna).

Simpsons by Bongo #174: Owl or Nothing & Taming Your Wild Child

As from 2012 there will be more comics available in the Little Library of Rescued Books. In the first story in this Simpsons' edition, Owl or Nothing, Lisa is caring for an injured renegade owl from the Springfield Bird Sanctuary whilst Homer is trying his hand in the Real Estate business as a ruiner of neighbourhhods. The owl is having just as much success in home wrecking and I think Lisa is a little sorry that she took this little hooter on.

In the second, and much shorter story, Taming Your Wild Child, Homer is trying to become a more effective parent, but true to his colours, Homer is only having limited success. These comics are great vehicles for learning about puns (play on words), onomatopoeia, rhetorical questions and sarcasm.