Underwear etiquette for all

Ever wondered what kind of underwear to give to a zebra? Or whether to go shopping for underwear with a hippo or not? These and other life-changing dilemmas will be answered in this little book of underwear etiquette.

Underwear do’s and don’ts by Todd Parr is an amusing child-friendly guide to what to do and what not to do with your underwear. Any pedants among you may wonder about the grammar of the title; this is Todd Parr’s own, and I have faithfully copied it. For those of you who don’t have a clue what I am talking about, the apostrophe in do’s is somewhat redundant. However, don’t let this put you off diving into the contents.

The illustrations

What you notice first about this book is the bold colours on the cover – turquoise background with red knickers sporting polka-dots of yellow, green, pink and blue. The lettering of the title is in black, but with parts of the letters coloured in as children like to do. The author’s name is in black but each letter has a separate coloured square. The spine of the book is pink, with yellow and black lettering. Finally, the back cover is yellow with little thumb-nail illustrations from the book itself. A nice feature of the back cover is the author introducing himself :

My name is Todd Parr. I live in San Francisco.

Todd Parr also has his own trademark in the bottom left-hand corner of the back cover, which consists of four heads with smiley faces, and “Be who you are” on top. I rather like this idea that we should be true to ourselves.

The illustrations in the book itself follow the brightness of the cover, and each consecutive page has a different colour for the background. The drawings are done in a child-like style, and contrast with backgrounds to form a riot of colour.

The content

First of all, I nearly missed the dedication :

This book is dedicated to my Dad. Love, Todd. I like the fact that even in this dedication, the author makes it accessible to children, and hints at an affectionate relationship with his father.

The book is arranged as a series of double-page spreads, with the “do” on one side and the “don’t” on the opposite one. The first is :

Do have lots of different kinds of underwear.
Don’t wear it all at once

The illustrations are priceless, and show a little boy in a striped jumper holding two pairs of knickers in the first, and the boy with knickers over his trousers and a pair on his head in the second.

I won’t mention all the content since I think by now you have an idea of what to expect and I don’t want to spoil your enjoyment, but there is definitely an injunction which all men would do well to follow :

Do give cool underwear as a present.
Don’t buy the wrong size.

I did wonder whether Todd Parr himself has experience in this department!

My impressions

I have to admit that I was instantly attracted to this book in a bargain bookshop, as I had already encountered Todd Parr in the library. When I asked my daughter whether she would like it, she was not impressed being in the middle of a minor tantrum, so I said to her that I’d get it for myself! Now, however, she likes it a lot and is using her emerging reading skills on it as well as enjoying the somewhat zany sense of humour.

This book is essentially a fun exploration of a subject which will delight children with its somewhat forbidden theme – underwear is not usually so openly discussed. However there are little nuggets of truth contained within which a parent could draw out as required, such as not hanging upside down and revealing your pretty panties to the world.

I would recommend this book to children from three upwards and definitely for adults to cheer up a grey day – perhaps as a fun convalescent present. For a well-produced little hardback book, it is priced at 3.99 UK pounds, so could be an inexpensive treat for a loved wee or big one.

And if you like the sound of this one, you can visit Todd Parr at his web-site :

www.toddparr.com

There you will discover the other books he has produced, and get a feel for the vibrancy of his illustrations.

Just remember that you only give zebras striped underwear, Nothing else will do!