Too Small to Fail by Morris Gleitzman

Oliver wants a dog. The perfect little dog is in his local pet shop. Oliver doesn't need to tell us - it is clear his mum and dad will not allow him to have a dog. Oliver visits the pet shop every day and sadly now the pet shop owner has banned him from entering the shop. As Oliver sits looking in the window trying to explain to the little dog why he cannot buy him a lady arrives. She enters the shop and, to Oliver's consternation, she buys "his" dog. Adding to this crazy scene she then dumps the dog into his arms and tells him to follow her down into the car park. Who is this crazy woman? How does she know Oliver's name? Where is she taking him?

Oliver is a rich kid with a sad life. His mum and dad own a bank. The woman who bought Oliver's dog (he names him Barclay after the bank his mum and dad like) is owed thousands of dollars by Oliver's parents. They are refusing to pay so Nancy has taken matters into her own hands.

All of this action takes place in the first two chapters of Too Small to Fail. If you keep reading (please keep reading this terrific book) you will also encounter an amazing camel, a tough young girl who has every reason to be sad and an ambitious young man who works for the bank. Barclay will be held for a ransom, Oliver will be kidnapped and some new and surprising friends will be made.

You can click the three review quotes below for more plot details.

It seems timely to read this book by Morris Gleitzman. In Australia we have just had a Royal Commission into banking practices. Too Small to Fail is set around the time of the Global Financial crisis in 2008. Mr and Mrs Newton (mum and dad) are motivated by greed and use fraudulent practices to make their money. Oliver has no idea about all of this but the dishonesty of his parents slowly becomes apparent and we watch him make sense of the adult corporate world.

Morris Gleitzman is also our Australian Children's Laureate for 2019-2020 and I recently read Melody Trumpet by Gabrielle Tozer and the parents in this story reminded me of the awful and misdirected parents in Too Small to Fail.

I saw Too Small to Fail at a charity book sale. I have been keen to re-read this book for some time. I have often referred to it here on this blog. This is one of the many books by Morris Gleitzman and it is one that I really enjoyed but perhaps it is not as well known as his more recent titles.

Here is an excellent set of teaching notes for Too Small to Fail. I do think it would be the perfect book to share with a Grade 5 class.

You can hear Morris reading the first chapter of his book here. The covers above are from UK and Australia.

Somehow, Gleitzman managed to create a believable voice narrating a funny, sweet, yet somehow serious story.  It was addictive, humorous and I stayed up late especially to finish it. Book Addicted Girl

Too Small to Fail is funny and sad simultaneously, which all Morris Gleitzman stories are. The child's point of view is taken seriously and given value, as it is in all Morris Gleitzman stories. There's a serious message at its heart, as there is in all Morris Gleitzman stories. The Bookbag

I love how Morris Gleitzman consistently manages to combine really intelligent and advanced themes with an intensely childlike sense of fun.  Kids Book Review

I would follow Too Small to Fail with What do you think Feezal, How to Steal a Dog, Melody Trumpet, and One Dog and his Boy.