The Book Launch

On 29 October 2010, the Minister for Education, Andrew Barr MLA, formally launched the book, Funny English Errors and Insights — Illustrated. VIPs, including Senator Gary Humphries, Andrew Leigh MP, and Alistair Coe MLA, and the interested public, assembled for the launch in the foyer of the National Library of Australia in Canberra at 11.00 am.

Funny English Errors and Insights — Illustrated is a book of unconscious humour, comprising 301 accidentally humorous uses and misuses of written English, including student bloopers, media misprints, and funny signs. The book is cleverly illustrated with more than 30 photographs from the pictures collections of the National Library.

The launch took place on World Teachers Day, which coincided with the final day of National Children’s Week. The Program for the Book Launch (.jpg, 767kb) is available here for posterity.

World Teachers Day was an appropriate day to launch Funny English Errors and Insights — Illustrated because the book is a fun teaching tool. In order to understand the book’s humour, the student reader must have a good vocabulary and possess good general knowledge. Thus the book provides an extra, fun incentive for students to improve their vocabulary and to expand their general knowledge.

It was also apt that Funny English Errors and Insights — Illustrated was launched as part of National Children’s week, since the book is also a celebration of children’s imagination, creativity, and ingenuity. The book does not poke fun at the innocent mistakes of children; rather, the book embraces and celebrates the accidental genius that children so often display.

Funny English Errors and Insights — Illustrated belongs to a persistently popular genre that has entertained audiences since the late 1800s and earlier, with the publication of books such as English as She is Wrote in 1883 and the London University’s introduction of annual competition in 1892 to find the best student bloopers.

To highlight the long history of the blooper book genre, the book was launched in a somewhat old-English style. Light catering offered guests the chance to partake in morning tea. The menu included:

Plunger Coffee
Leaf Tea
Iced Water
Orange Juice

Mini Chocolate Éclair
Selection Of Handmade Biscuits

Guests delighted in the beautiful string music provided by one of Canberra’s most established string quartets, Diva String Quartet, which contributed to the class and culture of the event. If the style of the book launch was old-English, then the theme of the book launch was “Joy”. The book launch not only celebrated the joy of children’s imagination but also the joy the book will give readers, of all ages. The theme “joy” was reflected in the choice of music, with titles including Bach’s Jesu Joy Of Man’s Desiring, Beethoven’s Ode To Joy, and, because it was only 8 weeks until Christmas, Joy To The World!

Guests were invited to leave a comment and sign their names in an old-style, leather-bound guestbook that recorded the names of attendees for posterity. In addition, guests received a complimentary copy of the popular vocabulary-building software, Ultimate Vocabulary, valued at $70.

And, if that wasn't enough, guests had the opportunity to enter the Funny English Errors Christmas Competition, with the lucky winner to receive $600 worth in prizes, including a new digital camera, printer, and stationery pack.

Following the launch, the book’s author, Troy Simpson, autographed guests’ copies of Funny English Errors and Insights — Illustrated.

The event was recorded; a video montage of the launch is available on YouTube.