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The Bolds by Julian Clary and David Roberts (view source)
Revision as of 11:38, 17 August 2020
, 11:38, 17 August 2020no edit summary
|reviewer= Anne Thompson
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary= At times hilarious and yet also kind -hearted this entertaining book combines an enjoyable story with fabulous illustrations in a perfect package for young readers.
|rating=5
|buy=Yes
'''Longlisted for the Branford Boase Award 2016'''
The Bolds, Mr and Mrs and their two small children, live in an ordinary semi-detached house in suburban Teddington. They have jobs; Mrs Bold designs and sells flamboyant hats and Mr Bold writes jokes for Christmas crackers. But they are most definitely not an ordinary family. Oh no! They are in fact hyenas. So far they have managed to successfully pretend to be human beings. Although very hairy and prone to laughing a lot they have kept the truth (and their tails!) a secret from everyone. But their grumpy next -door neighbour, Mr McNumpty, is growing suspicious and then a trip to the local safari park has repercussions. Will the Bolds' carefully long -kept secret be revealed?
When a celebrity, the basis of whose fame may be regarded somewhat at odds with children's fiction, announces that he is to write a children's book you may well wonder what to expect. I am delighted to say that I think that Julian Clary, self-styled ''national trinket'' has produced an absolute gem of a book. At times laugh-out-loud funny this very enjoyable story also gently pokes fun at humans' superior attitude towards animals. As the author demonstrates, animals can be very intelligent but their intelligence may manifest itself in a different way to our own. It also has an underlying theme of tolerance and acceptance of those who may be a little different.
Thank you to the publishers, Andersen Press, for sending this copy to the Bookbag.
Young readers who enjoy this story may also like the Mr Gum series the first of which is [[You're a Bad Man, Mr Gum! by Andy Stanton]] David Roberts has illustrated many children's books and I particularly enjoyed [[Operation Bunny - Wings & Co by Sally Gardner]] written for a similar age group. Adults might enjoy [[Briefs Encountered by Julian Clary]].
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