The Wacky World of Wesley Baker
Jake says this book is set in a school like lots of Gene Kemp’s stories and is pretty funny. He says he feels a lot of sympathy for the hero, Wesley, because he’s persecuted by a girl called Agnes Potter Higgins who is in love with him. Jake’s sympathy is baffling, frankly, because the chances of anyone ever having been in love with him are, frankly, zero, frankly.
The More the Merrier
According to Jake Anne Fine must have spied on his house at Christmas because this story is just like his family. Ie: crazy. (my word). He says about fifty squillion relatives come to stay every Christmas including his great-grandma and he always ends up getting sent to his room just like Ralph in the story. Why am I not surprised? I’ve read this book too and, actually, it is really funny. My favourite character is Albert, the boy from next door who practically tries to live at Ralph’s house, and they the family are always finding him in the bath.
War
Jake chose this book because he lives to play war, but he says all the stories are about how horrible war is. I could have told him that. I’ve read it too – my gran gave it to me for my birthday. I like the stories by Margaret Mahy and Nina Bawden and Adele’s new favourite ever writer, Geraldine McCaughrean. My mother’s read the book too – she says some of the writers are people she used to read when she was young and they’re as good as ever.
In Black and White
Jake chose this book from Ms Love's pile because all the stories in it are slightly creepy. He says they all have excellent twists but his favourite ones are the one about the compost heap and the one about the school photo. Ms Love says that this is a very rare Jan Mark book and that Jake is showing a very sophisticated reading ability. I looked up sophisticated and it means complex, advanced and very up-to-date. Personally, I find this hard to believe.
Pinocchio
As well as being obsessed with Lego Jake is obsessed with Pinocchio. Who knows why - but it may have something to do with his tendency to tell WHOPPERS. He has four different versions of the story as well as the video. He got this one for Christmas and he says it's the most beautiful so far because Sara Fanelli does great illustrations. Ms Love is reading it aloud to us every afternoon and I have to agree it's pretty good. If Jake was my friend I'd lend him my Pinocchio pencil (Alice sent it from Italy when she was working there). But he's not, so I won't.
Fergus Crane
I feel like saying that Jake only likes this book because it’s got pictures…but actually I thought it was great, too – a nifty, fantastical adventure. It’s funny, too, and Fergus Crane is a very sweet character (quite unlike Jake)… best of all – from Adele’s point of view, anyway – it has excellent food: her favourite description is of the Florentines: small roundels of toasted nuts, plump dried fruit, candy peel and glace cherries, all bound together with sweet buttery toffee and set on a base of dark, velvety chocolate…
Sideways arithmetic from Wayside School
Jake’s mother bought him this book to stop him reading The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle over and over again and because he has trouble with maths. I checked out the maths in the story and boy, is it barmy. Jake says Wayside school is his kind of place: mad. Luckily for Jake the answers to all the problems are at the back of the book. To be perfectly truthful, luckily for me, too. Adele says she didn’t look once, but she is a maths genius.
The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle
Apparently this is Jake’s favourite book ever. He doesn’t plan to read any others because this is so good. Apparently Dr Dolittle sails the oceans inside a giant sea snail. Apparently he has awesome adventures on Spidermonkey Island.
One Day in the Summer Holidays
Because I am not talking to Jake at the moment I got him to write down what he thought of this book: ‘a vg book’ (vg is ‘very good’).
A boy gets a new computer drawing programme and when he draws a creature called Compic his sister disappears into the computer and Anton has to follow her and they meet these weird insect and fruit people and there is fighting…’ You get the picture? Actually, I had a look at the book and the pictures are rather nifty…
Phredde and the Ghostly Underpants
Trust Jake to like a book with underpants in it. Actually, Bryon and I liked this book, too…it’s mad and funny…Phredde is a phaery (don’t call him a fairy, ‘if you value your kneecaps’). Then there’s Bruce (the frog), Pru, (a normal school-girl – like me, ha!), Mrs Olsen (the teacher), Pru’s brother (a werewolf)…kind of a ghost and adventure story combined with a lot of jokes.
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