Diary Of Dorkius Maximus by Tim Collins

Diary Of Dorkius Maximus by Tim Collins
Buy Diary Of Dorkius Maximus by Tim Collins at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Confident Readers
Reviewer: Margaret Young
Summary: A brilliant new book set in ancient Rome that reads like a cross between the Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Horrible Histories.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 192	Date: February 2013
Publisher: Michael O'Mara Books
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-1780550275
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The Diary of Dorkius Maximus begins very much like the Diary of a Wimpy Kid, only instead of journal bought by the protagonist's mother, we have a scroll bought by his father. Like Greg Heffley, the main character in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Dorkius Maximus has set out to record his childhood as a record of how he rose to greatness - once he becomes a Great Roman Hero.

The odds look stacked against poor Dorkius though. His brother has already been made a general in the Roman army, but Dorkius looks set to remain in his glorious brother's shadow for life. He is small, thin and weak, as well as being completely lacking in ruthlessness. He is the butt of the other children's jokes, and failing miserably in battle training, but he keeps trying, and his determination says something for him. When he overhears a plot against Julius Caesar - will he finally have a chance to become a hero?

This book is written in diary format, complete with doodle style illustrations, which are meant to look as if they might have been drawn by a child. I say meant to, because while many aspects of the drawings are childlike, they do betray a real artistic talent. The illustrations are a cut above most books in this genre. The similarities to Horrible Histories quickly become apparent as well, especially with things like sponge on a stick, the Roman equivalent of loo roll, and guests puking into buckets at the dinner table.

I had serious doubts about the author's attempt to combine these two very successful series. It was a very ambitious undertaking, but Collins managed to pull it off perfectly. The result is a book that had me laughing almost as much as the children. There are some serious moments. There is death and bloodshed, animal sacrifice, and a very cavalier attitude to slavery but this is in keeping with time period, and the details are not overly graphic. There is a definite sense of adventure in this as well. This book literally has it all, history, humour, adventure and excitement, gore and gruesomeness and yes, plenty of bodily functions. In addition it has a very likable main character whom many children will identify with, and shows that courage and determination can sometimes beat the odds.

My youngest child is still only 4, and very much taken by the toilet humour, but my oldest, at age 8, is able to appreciate the more subtle humour as well, and the adventure. He also really enjoyed the bit about sacred chickens, as Collins makes some very good jokes about religious practices of the times. I would recommend this from ages 5+ if a parent will be reading aloud and 7+ for independent reading. The text is made to look like hand writing, but it is very clear and easy to read, as well as being in a large font and well spaced. I hesitate to put an upper age limit on this, in large part because I enjoyed it so much myself, but I feel this book would easily appeal to children up to age 14. The very wide interest range combined with an easy to read text makes this book very appropriate for reluctant readers. Of course it's also a delight for avid readers, and a book that honestly stands out for excellence among the quite literally hundreds if not thousands of children's books we have gone through. This is a book I would not consider parting with, and I expect will be enjoyed many times over the years. I wouldn't go so far as to recommend this for adults without children; it isn't quite a crossover title, but this is a book adults will enjoy reading out loud, and if your child is reading this independently - it's still worth having a peek when they are finished. It did me leave spending 2 hours on the Internet myself trying to ascertain if a certain fact is historically accurate (if not I would consider it well within the realms of artistic license, but it has me so curious I will be tortured until I find out). I'm afraid I still don't know, but this may encourage you to brush up on your Roman History as well. I would have liked a brief note on the historical facts in this book, but this complaint is far too minor to deduct anything from a five star rating. I did appreciate the section on Roman words, which could be very useful for children who have not read previous books about Roman history, as well as the table of Roman numerals.

If this book appeals then we can also recommend Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney and Rotten Romans (Horrible Histories) by Terry Deary.

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