(The Literal) Fall of Fergal

Philip Ardagh writes some of the most genuinely funny books for children you are likely to find.

My elder son was a huge fan and was thrilled to meet the man himself when he was on a reading tour that included Vancouver's wonderful Kidsbooks.  That occasion also marked his first publication as a reviewer for The Vancouver Sun, although his career high so far was reviewing one of the Harry Potter books on a 48 hour turnaround.  No mean feat for a twelve-year-old boy.

I've written here before about my younger son's love for the opening paragraph of Fall of Fergal and now he has done a first person POV animation of that scene.  (Initially he was concerned that he might have to purchase an option on the paragraph but we decided to trust in the author's goodwill.)

The sound effects are particularly good, although we both agreed that the whole thing might benefit from an authorial voiceover reading the opening paragraph.  Someone with a nice, deep, Philip Ardagh-ish voice, perhaps?

The very last words young Fergal McNally heard in his life were: "Don't lean out that window!"  The very last sounds were probably the air whistling past his sticky-out ears as he fell the fourteen stories, the honk of traffic horns below (getting nearer and nearer, of course), and--possibly--the SP of the SPLAT! he himself made as he hit the pavement.  Fergal certainly wouldn't have heard more than the SP, though, because by the time the LAT! part had followed he would have been well and truly dead.