I’ve just read Mr Quiet by Roger Hargreaves. The plot goes as follows (WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS.):
Mr Quiet lives in Loudland, where everyone shouts and bangs and no-one can hear Mr Quiet’s whispers. The unhappy Mr Quiet is invited to Happyland by Mr Happy who, upon hearing his predicament, manages to get an ideal job for Mr Quiet in a place where everyone is always quiet and no-one talks louder than a whisper. You know where Mr Quiet went to work, don’t you? Yes, a library.
I knew what was coming before I turned the last page, but it still made me laugh out loud. I think CILIP should use Mr Quiet as some sort of mascot of a 21st century information professional.
What I never understand is how, in the Mr Men books, Mr X always, always lives in The Land Of Not-X. You’d think that if you were “Mr Beard” you’d choose to move out of CompulsoryRazorLand without having to have someone tell you to do so. And why did you move there in the first place? It is a mystery!
And presumably Happyland has no policy of controlled immigration.