A couple of quick reviews

Don't be fooled by the title, the pictures, or the size and shape of this book. It's not a book for young kids, unless they're seriously warped already.

It's just about the most brilliant thing I've ever beheld. The words are few, the illustrations are fantastic, and the story is insane. Insanely good.

I just finished watching the first series of Land Girls on Netflix instant streaming. And yes, it's brilliant as well. It's just the type of production that the BBC does so very freakin' well. It's got fully realized characters, damn good actors who bring them to life admirably, and the story is full of ups and downs that keep you entertained and absorbed.
The plot revolves around four young women sent to live and work on a farm during the early years of World War 2. And yes, there was an actual organization that was called The Women's Land Army, their task was to farm the farms of Britain so that they would not remain fallow while the men went off to war. The 'girls' get into all sorts of interpersonal dramas and they share tragedy and triumph along the way. They're not all angels with lilacs and roses for pubic hair, they all make mistakes, suffer for them, and keep on going. And yes, it's all terribly interesting and engrossing.

The four female leads are very good and very easy on the eyes. After all, they're all British babes who get down and dirty on the farm, in the fields, and behind each others backs. What's not to love? However, as good as the four leads are, the best performances of this series are turned in by the two villains Lady Hoxley and Sgt. Tucker, played by Sophie Ward and Danny Webb respectively. Lady Hoxley is as cold and distant as an iceberg is to a native of the tropics and Webb's unhinged uber patriotic sergeant in home guard is a thing of evil beauty.

I highly recommend this one.