Author: Dermot Milligan & Anthiny McGowan
Series: Donut Diaries (book 1)
Publisher: Corgi Childrens
Release Date: 4 Aug 2011
ISBN-13: 978-0552564373
Synopsis
A British Diary of a Wimpy Kid, featuring Dermot, an overweight eleven-year-old. Hilariously funny and insightful.
Dermot Milligan's got problems. He's overweight and hooked on donuts. He has a pushy, over-achieving mother, and a father who spends all his time hiding in the loo. His sisters, Ruby and Ella (known as Rubella) attack him relentlessly from the opposite directions of Chav and Goth. And now, he's being sent to a nutritionist, Doctor Morlock.
This diary is Doc Morlock's idea. Not only does Dermot have to write down how many donuts he eats, but also - and this is the really rubbish part - he has to talk about HIS FEELINGS! But things are about to get even worse - he's being separated from his friends and sent to St Michael's, a posh school where he just knows he's going to stick out like a sore thumb. A sore thumb with a weight problem . . .
My Review
I run a Children's Book Group at the Library called 'Chatterbooks'. Each year we run a 'Book Of the Year', where 6 shortlisted books are given to the children, they have to read all 6 then vote for their favourite. The one with the most votes becomes the Book Of The Year. This is one of them. I usually read them all so I can talk about them with the kids, so more will appear over the next few weeks.
Dermot is 11 and very overweight, he has an addiction to donuts and eats a mass amount each day. He is sent to a nutritionist, it's either that or fat camp. She tells him to keep a diary of how many donuts he eats and what he gets up to - what triggers his donut cravings.
Personally I didn't love it, but children will absolutely adore it! It's filled with burping, farting, poo jokes, etc, perfect for 8-12 year old boys. As that is the market of this book, the author has done it perfectly. There is a quick humour and easy confidence to Dermot. He is a very likeable character and can tell a good story. Kids will find it easy to read and I think this could take off as well as 'Wimpy Kid' did.
My Rating
In terms of my enjoyment of this book I would give it 3/10 but rating it in regards of it's intended audience, then it works perfectly and so would give it 9/10. Add this to Christmas lists if you have a child between 8-12, especially boys.
I'm quite looking forward to giving this to my book group.
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