Orion ISBN 9781444013887 £6.99
This is a very exciting and really quite busy and complicated story set in Storey Street (great for fans of Demolition Dad) and the moral is really very heart-warming: Sometimes, Mouse thought with a smile, you don’t need a cape to make you super…
Mouse’s home is loving but chaotic and he feels overlooked as his siblings are so demanding. He has to cope with bullying at school and wishes very much that he had a super power. This sounds rather serious but the book is a comedy with strong characters, a fast-paced, energetic ‘thriller’ storyline and a satisfying denouement. The language is pretty straightforward (although there is the odd, important word that will have to be looked up or checked with an adult: adversary, for example). Ogilvie’s illustrations are cheerfully comic-bookesque but usefully support the text by focussing on the facial expressions of the characters; the cover is full-colour and attractive. This would sit well in any key stage 2 classroom library. I suggest you buy Phil Earle’s Demolition Dad as well as we all know that children love sequels and series.
Debra Holmes, English teacher, Sexey’s School, Bruton, Somerset