Book Review - Fintan Fedora The Worlds Worst Explorer

Title: Fintan Fedora the Worlds Worst Explorer
Author: Clive Goddard
Publisher: Scholastic
Release Date: 7 Feb 2011
ISBN-13: 978-1407121031

Synopsis
Fourteen-year-old Fintan Fedora has the brains of a damp sock but a heart of gold. Determined to prove to his father, owner of the Fedora Fancy Food Company, that he will one day be good enough to take over the family business, Fintan sets out to find the elusive Chocoplum \- the rarest and most delicious treat known to man. With only the help of his trusty and long suffering butler (ooh, and quite a few peanut butter sandwiches), Fintan travels to South America. But little does he know that there are a pair of totally incompetent kidnappers on his tail, as well as an evil business mogul who wants the Chocoplum for himself... 

 My Review
It's amazing what you can find in the library. I saw this book come in as a new stock last week and thought the title sounded catchy. Then a couple of days ago one of my colleagues picked it up and read the first page, she started laughing and told me to have a look, said i would love it. Well I opened it up and was laughing straight away so I decided to take it home, figuring it was short and funny so would take me no time to read at all.
I am so glad she gave it to me, this is a treasure of a book, I couldn't stop smiling or laughing, in fact I laughed so hard I shot juice out my nose - warning do not eat or drink whilst reading this book, it's messy. :P
Fintan is a rather hopeless young boy, everything he touches either breaks, bursts into flames or just fails entirely, his father despairs and is thinking of cutting him out of the company business - a Cake making business at that (the best kind really!) Desperate to prove himself, Fintan sets off to Brazil and the Amazon jungle in search of a rare fruit the 'Chocoplum' most don't even believe in it's existance but Fintan won't let that stop him. 
His butler Gribley is dragged along on the adventure. Along the way they meet Wrench - a business Mogul from a rival company and Edith & Eric, a mother and son duo who are down on their luck. But with Fintan around, things never run smoothly.
I loved Fintan, he was so funny, total idiot most of the time but with those odd flashes of brilliance. The fact that everytime he tried to help something went wrong made me feel sorry for him, but he was so upbeat and oblivious to the chaos around him, and he had the odd moment where an accident would be the perfect solution. 
This book is filled with laugh out loud moments, especially if you like slap-stick humour. I loved Gribleys dry sense of humour and sarcasm, and his patience in dealing with Fintan.
I would definitely recommend this book, it is packed with laughs and perfect for fans of Horrid Henry looking for something a bit more challenging. Boys and girls will love it, it's a delight for grown ups too.
Brilliant imagery too, I could picture everything, and couldn't drag myself away from it.


My Rating