Author: Anna Wilson
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
Release Date: 21 Jan 2011
ISBN-13: 978-0330509282
Synopsis
For Felix and Flo, animals are the NUMBER ONE TOP PRIORITY in life. And although Felix loves his pets (a lazy dog, an angry cat and a noisy hamster), what he really wants is the chance to look after an animal which is EXOTIC and DIFFERENT like an elephant, or a monkey, for instance. So when he finds out from Flo that you can actually adopt your own animal via the MIRACLE OF THE INTERNET, he is beside himself with excitement until he realises that this plan isn't as FOOLPROOF as it seems.
My Review
This is another book that I had to read for this year's book day at work, I;m about half way through the list now.
Felix is obsessed with animals and so is his best friend Flo. He is always being told off for taking in all sorts of insects and small animals in to the house, but he now wants to think bigger and the pair come up with a crazy idea to get an exotic pet.
As the Synopsis shows, there are a lot of words in capitals. This happens all through the book and I found it really irritating. Now, I know this book is aimed at young children, the main characters are 8/9 years old, but I'm not really sure who would read this, it seems a bit long and there is a lot of information on conservation in there that young children would struggle with, but then it seems too young for the next level of reader. Maybe it's one parents could read to their children.
Felix was a good character, standard excitable little boy with a passion for muck, mess and creepy crawlies. He has a passion for learning about animals and the environment and you can tell he has a good heart, but he does makes some very silly decisions.
Flo, his best friend however was not a nice character. I really didn't like her. She was moody, stroppy, bossy, rude and just plain irritating. She spends all her time telling Felix what to do, or shouting at him, or coming up with stupid ideas then blaming him for it when it goes wrong. When they get in trouble she has no problem throwing him in the deep end. She was spoilt. I didn't like their relationship at all, it was very bossy woman, taking over.
Felix's uncle known as 'Zed' was a bit of comic relief, he is a bit of a hippy, but even this annoyed me after a while, nearly every sentence he spoke included the words, 'dude', 'chill', 'man' etc,
I think this story could be really good for younger children if it was shortened, it just seemed to be repeating bits. The idea of the book was good, but it didn't live up to expectations, maybe I'm just too old for it, and kids will love it, but it just didn't strike a chord with me. Mayeb good for reading a chapter at bedtime with children. Lots of doodles on pages, and only 237 pages which isn't too long.
My Rating
No comments:
Post a Comment