Thursday, February 6, 2020

Oliver Doliver's Dinosaur Comes to Stay by Papa Perkins - Book Tour & Review

Oliver Doliver’s Dinosaur Comes to Stay
by Papa Perkins

Summary:
Oliver Doliver (who is really just Oliver but he does like having both names) will be mostly Oliver in this story. Oliver is six years (and one month) old and has a friend who is a Dinosaur called Aya Buddn.

This is the story of how they met!

And more adventures will follow.

Information about the Book
Title: Oliver Doliver’s Dinosaur Comes to Stay
Author: Papa Perkins
Release Date: 6th February 2020
Genre: Picture Book
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Clink Street Publishing

My Review
Oliver Doliver is a six year old boy who imagines himself befriending exciting creatures in magical, far-away places, and one day, one actually shows up in his house. Aya Buddn is a sad little dinosaur (although he looks more like a dragon) looking for a friend. Does he find one in Oliver?
I though this was a cute, easy read. The illustrations are nicely done, and the story is simple enough. Young readers will enjoy the new, budding friendship between Oliver and Aya Buddn. My son thought it was a fun story, and he liked reading it with me.
The only issue I had was Aya Buddn looks more like a dragon (without wings) than a dinosaur, but that's okay.
Overall, a cute read. I liked it.
4 stars!

Author Information
Mark Perkins was born in 1951 and spent his career in art.
He is married and lives in Poole with his wife, Avril. They have 3 children and 7 grand-children.

He and Avril bred Burmilla cats for 20 years and they still have 6 for company, along with two miniature dachshunds, two snakes, bantams and a few rather lovely pond fish.

Following schooling near Poole and in Wimborne Minster in Dorset, he attended Bournemouth College of Art for four years and followed this by gaining a teaching certificate from Bretton Hall College in Yorkshire where he met Avril.

Returning to Dorset, Mark took up a post in an advertising studio in Bournemouth and remained there as creative director until 1991 at which time he found teaching art more rewarding and began teaching art to students from ages 12-18. 

As well as being a teacher he was elected to full membership of the CSD Chartered Society of Designers in 1983 after 10 years in professional practice.
He produced designs for advertising, print and all forms of graphic communication. He specialized latterly in the design and production of large exhibition stands for national and international clients.

Ill-health forced Mark into retirement in 2000, which gave him the chance of pursuing his own interest in drawing and painting for his pleasure; much of which was contained in many sketchbooks, avoiding the necessity of explaining his thoughts to others in a public arena.

Throughout the past few years he has moved from abstract concepts into the more satisfying world of the printed book for children. His printed works include Alphabetcats, A Nature Diary, several volumes of the work of Lesley Anne Ivory and latterly ‘Words, Works & Worlds’ – a compendium of pages from his sketchbooks.

However of all of these, it is writing for children which inspires him most, and even now as he considers the thought of being 70, he reckons it’s not too late to discover what he perhaps should have begun 20 years ago.

He shows some of his later work on his website; http://blueskiesartwork.co.uk  









Tour Schedule








Monday 3rd February

Tuesday 4th February

Wednesday 5th February

Thursday 6th February

Friday 7th February

Saturday 8th February

Sunday 9th February



Monday 10th February

Tuesday 11th February

Wednesday 12th February

Thursday 13th February

Friday 14th February

Saturday 15th February

Sunday 16th February



1 comment:


  1. It's hard to know exactly what age is the 'right' age. I wrote it for Oliver when he was around 3 years old though imagined him older when illustrating him. I do so hope your boys do get to enjoy him and his new fried Aya Buddn. The name, incidentally, comes from one of Oliver's first word combinations that he invented whilst still small. There was another priceless word he used at the same time, which I am reserving for another story, yet to come. Thank you for your note about the 'dragon-similarity' which, is actually quite intentional. I like the idea of thinking of the mythical as being an evolution of the actual.

    ReplyDelete

Please try not to spam posts with the same comments over and over again. Authors like seeing thoughtful comments about their books, not the same old, "I like the cover" or "sounds good" comments. While that is nice, putting some real thought and effort in is appreciated. Thank you.