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Junior
Bloomsbury
Paperback £4.99
ISBN: 0747571775
Reviewed by Evie Mcleod
[Armadillo 6.3 Autumn 2004]
Louis Sachar never disappoints. He has a rare ability to provide his readers with the unpredictable. This is a collection of wonderfully bizarre cautionary tales that never end the way one expects.
Wayside School, mistakenly built sideways, houses the weirdest assortment of teachers of pupils you are ever likely to come across. I was delighted to hear my six-year-old barking with laughter at Miss Gorf, who leaves you in no doubt that she is a witch, Joe who never learnt to count but always gets his sums right and Nancy, the boy with a girl?s name. They are just a few of the peculiar characters in this hilarious book for younger readers.
The dark humor in these short, simple stories is comparable to Hilaire Belloc's Cautionary Tales or Struwwelpeter and can only serve to elevate Louis Sachar even more in the eyes of his many admirers, my daughter included. Great for reading aloud.