Having enjoyed his comedy songs and read his previous books, this sounded like a natural for me. The bright, playful cover illustration drew me in as did, let's face it, the idea of those sparkly pink glasses we all now associate with Randy Rainbow. It's his real name, btw, for anyone who doesn't know. Designed for children, it's short and sweet with the emphasis on the positives of being a "weirdo", as it says his classmates called him. I noted that some of the other reviews felt he shouldn't have used that term but who are we kidding? It's likely weirdo was one of the nicer things he was called.
In any case, he shows, one, how his grandmother's support helped him through a tough time and, two, how to turn a negative into a positive. He narrates it himself and while he didn't knock my socks off, he did a good job conveying the story while differentiating the voices. I really came away from this one liking his grandmother who instilled the idea of the magic being within you, that's for sure. Having read his memoirs, I probably came to this with a bit more background than many but smiled as he made light of his habit of, oh, let's call it, dressing for fun, not to fit in. His love of dance and Broadway tunes shines forth here, too.
While I doubt a pair of sparkly pink glasses will be the answer for all children not fitting in, this one voices the idea that it's possible to be yourself. While I'm sorry he had to endure the harassment, I applaud him for offering hope to others who didn't fit in with the crowd. Let's face it, we're all weird at one time of the other, so thanks reaching out your hand, Randy, to those who dare to be their own unique kinda self. Thanks #MacmillanAudio for sharing this early listen with me. I'm always glad to spend time hanging out with Randy.
No comments:
Post a Comment