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Revision as of 10:52, 27 July 2012
, 10:52, 27 July 2012Created page with "{{infobox |title=Mind If I Read Your Mind? (Ghost Buddy) |author=Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver |reviewer=John Lloyd |genre=Confident Readers |rating=3.5 |buy=Maybe |borrow=Yes ..."
{{infobox
|title=Mind If I Read Your Mind? (Ghost Buddy)
|author=Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver
|reviewer=John Lloyd
|genre=Confident Readers
|rating=3.5
|buy=Maybe
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=9781407132297
|paperback=1407132296
|hardback=
|audiobook=
|ebook=
|pages=176
|publisher=Scholastic
|date=August 2012
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1407132296</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>1407132296</amazonus>
|website=
|video=
|summary=No sense of Caspar's tweeness, as this other friendly ghost for primary schoolers gets tricksy - and crabby, too. It holds promise for more fun elsewhere in the series' life-span.
}}
Every boy needs a mentor, and Billy Broccoli is no exception. His, however, is The Hoove - a ghost, who is able to impart a hundred years' worth of nous and savvy, and yet still able to use words like ''doofus'' as if he was a real, live fourteen year old. With nobody else knowing about this friendship, life is certainly lively for Billy, but also helped - when a show-and-tell-type competitive school demonstration leads to the magic the title suggests. But can Billy really rely on such an opinionated, moody helper, when the crunch comes?
It's easy to see a little of the Fonz in The Hoove, and yes, it '''is''' that Henry Winkler. He's a sharp-talking, fun-loving, spirited, er, spirit, and his character and abilities bring a real sense of Saturday morning kid's TV to the book. Billy himself is reasonable - not terribly interesting, but it is easy to imagine the scenes of him with his new stepsister as a whole lot worse than they are. His finding-new-friends-in-a-new-school problem is done well.
I hope however that I would rate the rest of this on-going series as better. It suffers a little by being too much a fan of baseball, and while ''math'' has been edited to ''maths'' it does come across as very American. And despite being peppered with subtly-drawn life lessons - for Billy and for The Hoove - the ending, without giving too much away, is clunky and lame, and I would defy anyone to find a child who would actually agree with it.
Before then it's all jovial, well-intentioned, yet satisfyingly entertaining stuff. It's old-school sensibilities - fairness, friendship, patience and loyalty - taught with a new-school style. The TV version playing in my head as I read this was engaging, and full of fun effects, and I'm sure this makes a good series of books - but here's too much that makes this one a below-par entrant in it.
I must thank the publishers for my review copy.
The series started [[Zero to Hero - Ghost Buddy by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver|here]].
{{amazontext|amazon=1407132296}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=9021651}}
{{commenthead}}
|title=Mind If I Read Your Mind? (Ghost Buddy)
|author=Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver
|reviewer=John Lloyd
|genre=Confident Readers
|rating=3.5
|buy=Maybe
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=9781407132297
|paperback=1407132296
|hardback=
|audiobook=
|ebook=
|pages=176
|publisher=Scholastic
|date=August 2012
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1407132296</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>1407132296</amazonus>
|website=
|video=
|summary=No sense of Caspar's tweeness, as this other friendly ghost for primary schoolers gets tricksy - and crabby, too. It holds promise for more fun elsewhere in the series' life-span.
}}
Every boy needs a mentor, and Billy Broccoli is no exception. His, however, is The Hoove - a ghost, who is able to impart a hundred years' worth of nous and savvy, and yet still able to use words like ''doofus'' as if he was a real, live fourteen year old. With nobody else knowing about this friendship, life is certainly lively for Billy, but also helped - when a show-and-tell-type competitive school demonstration leads to the magic the title suggests. But can Billy really rely on such an opinionated, moody helper, when the crunch comes?
It's easy to see a little of the Fonz in The Hoove, and yes, it '''is''' that Henry Winkler. He's a sharp-talking, fun-loving, spirited, er, spirit, and his character and abilities bring a real sense of Saturday morning kid's TV to the book. Billy himself is reasonable - not terribly interesting, but it is easy to imagine the scenes of him with his new stepsister as a whole lot worse than they are. His finding-new-friends-in-a-new-school problem is done well.
I hope however that I would rate the rest of this on-going series as better. It suffers a little by being too much a fan of baseball, and while ''math'' has been edited to ''maths'' it does come across as very American. And despite being peppered with subtly-drawn life lessons - for Billy and for The Hoove - the ending, without giving too much away, is clunky and lame, and I would defy anyone to find a child who would actually agree with it.
Before then it's all jovial, well-intentioned, yet satisfyingly entertaining stuff. It's old-school sensibilities - fairness, friendship, patience and loyalty - taught with a new-school style. The TV version playing in my head as I read this was engaging, and full of fun effects, and I'm sure this makes a good series of books - but here's too much that makes this one a below-par entrant in it.
I must thank the publishers for my review copy.
The series started [[Zero to Hero - Ghost Buddy by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver|here]].
{{amazontext|amazon=1407132296}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=9021651}}
{{commenthead}}
