KRudd writes a Childrens Book

[philw]

I think i have just VERPED


http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/and-in-this-instalment-two-heroes-save-the-day-20100118-mgsy.html

When George Bush snr was in the White House, his wife, Barbara, hit on the idea of trying to humanise the family through the voice of its pet dog, Millie.

And so was created the first book written by a presidential mutt. Millie's Book: As Dictated to Barbara Bush purported to be a day in the life of president Bush through the eyes of the first pooch and reported morning briefings, deliberations in the Oval Office and the occasional escape for squirrel hunting.

It proved such a hit it outsold Mr Bush's own biography, which must have thrilled old George, whom Millie the springer spaniel disrespectfully called The Prez.

In politics, there's no idea so goofy that it can't be pinched and rolled out as new, which brings us to Kevin Rudd, children's author.

However, Kev's foray into cutesy animal tales - surely a first for an Australian prime minister - doesn't risk allowing his dog, Abby, and Jasper the cat to reflect on their master's behaviour. He has done the telling himself, possibly aware that wives can spin stories in such a way that the master can emerge looking a bit less than masterful.

The very first illustration in Jasper and Abby and the Great Australia Day Kerfuffle, co-written by the actor Rhys Muldoon, has the PM staring into the eyes of Jasper, who is perched on the prime ministerial desk, while Abby scratches herself on a lounge chair at a safe distance.

Kevin, you gather, is the boss. Indeed, the illustrator, Carla Zapel, has drawn him with an unnerving likeness to Chairman Mao. Little wonder Abby the golden retriever is keeping a bit of space between her and the Great Leader. Mao's cultural revolution spelt a gruesome end for such bourgeoisie indulgences as pets.

Happily, the pooch and the moggie dominate the remaining pages. Together, they save an Australia Day knees-up at the Lodge from the dreadful behaviour of an interloper, a ''scruffy little dog, Chewy''. It couldn't have been worse had Tony Abbott had sneaked in.

Chewy lets down the marquee, pinches the sausages, wrecks the Australia Day cake and generally causes uproar. Then he grabs a loose thread hanging from an Australian flag knitted by ''the nannas from Nambour'' and begins unravelling it. Hold on, it couldn't be a metaphor for Tony Abbott, who would never desecrate a flag with the Union Jack on it. Chewy, one suspects, has to be one of those troublesome leftie Labor republicans or even, gasp, the ghost of Paul Keating come back to haunt the Lodge.

The Prime Minister's trusty four-footed patriot friends, of course, save the day. ''Quick Abby!'' said Jasper. ''You nab Chewy and I'll save the flag.''

And of course, they do, to congratulations from the author. It may well outsell Kevin's earlier masterpiece on the end of neo-capitalism and his collected speeches combined, which is just as well, because all the proceeds will go to the centre for community child health at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne.

[twyacht]

In politics, there's no idea so goofy that it can't be pinched and rolled out as new, which brings us to Kevin Rudd, children's author.

because all the proceeds will go to the centre for community child health at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne.

See, even across thousands of miles, "it's for the children........"