Danny Chung does not do Maths by Maisie Chan illustrated by Ahn Cao

Danny is an only child. His Chinese parents run a successful takeaway food business. The family live above their business. Danny is under some pressure from his Ma and Ba to succeed at school and to progress to university and a 'good job' but Danny is not keen on school. His main passion is drawing.

His mother and father are friends with Mr and Mrs Yee. Danny calls them Auntie and Uncle but they are not related to the Chung family. Early in the morning, as this book begins, Uncle Yee arrives with a bunk bed for Danny's room. Danny is told to expect a surprise. What he does not expect is that the surprise will be his tiny grandmother or Nai Nai. And the surprises continue. Nai Nai claims the top bunk. The Easter holidays have just begun and Ma and Ba expect Danny to entertain Nai Nai. She cannot speak a word of English and Danny cannot speak or understand her regional Chinese dialect. 

Then Nai Nai discovers bingo. Danny discovers Nai Nai has a talent for numbers. He is supposed to be working on a maths project. It seems impossible but somehow there is a way for Nai Nai to help and along the way Danny learns a lot about being a friend, about being a grandson and about his own family heritage. 

I read this book in almost one sitting - yes it is that good. Danny is a likeable kid albeit a kid with flaws. His grandmother Nai Nai does not speak English, in fact she barely speaks at all in this book but I just loved her. She is feisty, she is wise, she is child-like, she is funny, she loves her grandson Danny and she is here to stay!

Maisie Chan’s debut novel is a warm-hearted and utterly convincing slice of family life and, what’s more, stars the kind of family too rarely seen in UK children’s literature. Books for Keeps

There's a lot of humour through the book, and some wonderful illustrations. The chapters aren't too long, and the language is accessible, so all of these things help make the book engaging and easy to read. The Boook Bag

Read an interview with Maisie Chan. Listen to an audio sample from Chapter One. Here is the US cover which I really like. It also has a different illustrator Natelle Quek.

Huge thanks to Beachside Bookshop for my advance reader copy of this terrific UK book which was published in June 2021. I am keen to see the finished book with illustrations by Ahn Cao.

Companion reads:

Pie in the Sky

Front Desk

The Year of the Dog

A Glasshouse of Stars

Something I Said by Ben Bailey Smith

"Look at any price, Something I said is a bargain, because for the same price you don't just get funny, you also get a nice double scoop of heart and high drama." Ben Bailey Smith

Carmichael Taylor is not quite a nerd and not quite the cool kid. He has a good group of friends. He comes from a fairly regular family. His days are filled with friends and school. School is okay mostly except for Geography and PE. Carmichael (or Car as he likes to be called) wishes school consisted of only one subject - English. He loves the power of words. He is talked into taking part in the school talent quest performing 'Spoken Word'. This starts out as a project devised by his English teacher and his overbearing mother, then it morphs into a punishment for leaving school without permission. But when Car finally stands on the stage his 'Spoken Word' piece turns into something way bigger than any one anticipated. Some one (his friend Alex) has filmed his standup. The standup routine was basically an attack on his family and teachers and now it is on the internet. Will Car become famous or will this backfire? Is it a good thing that the US producer of a talk show called The Missy Show has seen his performance and now wants him to travel to New York to perform on the show? 

Publisher Blurb: For thirteen-year-old Carmichael Taylor, life is one big joke - in a good way. He just can't understand why no one else seems to find everything as funny as he does. When Car is filmed stumbling into performing a piece of hilarious stand-up at the school talent show - targeting his family, school and friends - the footage ends up creating international infamy. But with the promise of fame and fortune comes trouble, and it's up to Car to decide what or who he's willing to risk to chase his comedy dream. Get ready to laugh at life with this heart-warming, unashamedly honest and hilarious look at family, friendship and what really matters.

When I added this book to my to read pile of Advanced Reader copies (thanks Beachside Bookshop)  I will confess I put Something I Said right at the bottom of my pile. Why?

• It's a long book 370 pages, and the print is fairly small
• The author is a celebrity - often books by celebrities lack quality (sorry Ben) See below for more commentary about this topic
• I recognised the author from his bio photo - he was a very nasty character in a television series (The Split). I find it hard to separate the tv character from the author. I am not familiar with his work as a rapper (Doc Brown) or his work in Children's television on the Four O'Clock Show.
• This is a book about comedians and comedy standup - not things that I'm keen on
• The main character, Carmichael is thirteen - is this a Young Adult book?

Having said made all of these points I have amazed myself. I read this whole book in just two days. I didn't laugh at the jokes but I enjoyed the poignancy of self discovery which is a major theme in the story. Perhaps this is because I do not have siblings, but I really do not like unkindness especially unkindness in a family expressed through sarcasm and smart remarks. Yes there are 'put downs' in this book but they were not overdone for 'cheap laughs'. I enjoyed watching Carmichael eventually realise his family should come first. His words are powerful - they can hurt (that's easy) but they can also heal. My only small criticism of this book is the way Ben Bailey Smith portrayed Carmichael's father Stuart. I really wanted him to discover his voice too. 

I think this book will be enjoyed by readers aged 10+. The tone reminded me of The Fourth Stall by Chris Rylander. 

Celebrities writing books for kids:

The Guardian "Famous first words: how celebrities made their way on to children's bookshelves"

Wild Things: Acts of Mischief in Children's Literature

Clever Trevor's stupendous inventions by Andrew Weldon

I have loved this little comic-style book, Clever Trevor's stupendous inventions, for a long time (first published 1999) so you can imagine my delight when I discovered recently that it had been reprinted.  You can see the old cover here and the new cover below.

My favourite part of this book is not the story (which is very funny and so easy to read) it is the imprint information and other pages found at the beginning and end of the book .  Sadly it seems these riotous details have been left out of the new copy. I wonder why?

The first page for example says :
Also by Andrew Weldon
Treasure Island
The cat in the hat
Alice in Wonderland
Great Expectations
Where the wild things are
The Magic Pudding
Catcher in the Rye
 and more....

At the end of the book :
What the critics say about Andrew Weldon's The Kid with the Amazing Head:
Sydney Morning Herald (not reviewed)
The Age (not reviewed)
Australian (not reviewed)
Guardian (UK) (not reviewed)
New York Review of books (not reviewed)

Here are some parts of the imprint information
Puffin Books
Penguin Books, a division of Pearson Canada
10 Alcorn Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4V 3B2
(Over the bridge on your right, next to the fish paste factory)
Penguin Books (NZ) Ltd
Crn Rosedale and Airborne Roads, Albany, Auckland, New Zealand
(Through paddock. Close the gate behind you)

All right reserved .... Keep refrigerated.

... All pigments used in this book are derived from the author's own body wastes.

Trevor is an inventor.  His teacher Mr Shmedric does not appreciate this talent.  Things finally come to head for Trevor and his friends when this despicable teacher appropriates one of Trevor's inventions, organizes a marketing campaign and rakes in tons of money.

Trevor and his friends devise a terrific plan to bankrupt their corrupt teacher and ensure Trevor can move on to a different grade (and hopefully a better teacher) next year.

Keep your eye out for the companion volume The Kid with the Amazing head.  This pair of books are perfect for reluctant readers and for anyone who likes to laugh.

You might also enjoy Problem Child by James Roy and Writing in wet cement by Andrew Daddo. Here is an interview with the author.

Timmy Failure mistakes were made by Stephan Pastis

"My family name was once Fayleure. But somebody changed it.  Now it is spelled as you see.  I'd ask that you get your 'failure' jokes out of the way now.  I am anything but."

This little quote from the first page should help you hear the 'tone' of this funny book which has the following chapter headings :

Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah

The Candy man can't cos he's missing all his chocolate -(I wonder if you can hear the Candy man song here)

The Timmy empire strikes back

The answer, my friend, is blowing on my ear

Happiness is not a dumb blanket

Dial M for Magellan

I get no kick from kickball

No teacher left behind  (This refers to the US campaign No child left behind.)

For whom the Timmyline tolls

Elementary my dear Gunnar

As you can see this book is filled with references to music and popular culture though oddly, for me, it was not a book that made me laugh out loud. I did smile at times but mostly I found Timmy to be a fairly annoying and self absorbed little boy.  That said this is a fun book to read and it will be featured on the NSW School Magazine bookshelf this year.

Following the style of Detective Donut and the wild goose chase, Inspector Gadget and Victor's Quest, Timmy is a bumbling detective who works with a special sidekick but this is where Mistakes were made moves away from the predicable.  His sidekick is a Polar Bear and he is not the voice of wisdom - he much prefers Rice Krispie treats and raiding garbage bins along with his passion for seals.  Timmy knows one day he will be a famous detective but for now he is on the trail of a candy thief and worse, he needs to find out who stole his mothers Segway which Timmy has named his Failuremobile.  This is particularly urgent because his mother does not know Timmy has been using the segway.  In fact she has expressly forbidden this.  I did enjoy the way Timmy schedules regular teleconferences with is mother.

For fans of Diary of a Wimpy kid and Tom Gates and especially boys will enjoy Timmy Failure mistakes were made with its short chapters, perfect little cartoon style drawings and cast of crazy characters.  Timmy has a web site which contains story extracts and activities and you will see there is a sequel. The Kirkus review below is well worth reading too.

Timmy may not be one of the great children’s-book characters, but he has greatness in him. Just like all of us.

Our Crazy Class Election by Timothy Roland

Our Crazy class Election is a tiny book that packs a powerful punch in three different ways. Firstly it is an ideal quick read for junior students, second it is funny and thirdly it has terrific little comic strips as illustrations. (Sorry my picture is so fuzzy, it was the best I could find. Scholastic the publisher have no front cover on their web site!) Did I mention this is a funny book!

A boy in my school recently alerted me to this Comic Guy series by Timothy Roland. He asked for Book 2 – we don’t have this but I thought if he enjoyed Book 1, I better get reading a find out why.

A check on the internet shows me there are now three titles in this series so we will need to add these to our order list. In Our Crazy Class election we meet Guy – he is the Comic Guy, Tank – the class bully, Ollie the science room pet monkey and Clint the new kid in class who has real talents. It is election time and Tank wants to win at all costs. Guy and the rest of the class know they can’t let this happen but who will stand against him?

The chapter names in this zany little book will give you a flavour of the story – The beginning of the end, And the answer is …, I waited for this, We’re all behind you, Speechless no more, Let the explosion begin, Ready set Campaign, and The final pitch. The chapter where Guy tries to give his speech is so funny and a great example of co-operation between friends.

I would recommend this little chapter book to anyone who wants a quick read, a good laugh and an easy way to understand class elections and even democracy in action. The newspaper for Rockyville Elementary School is called The Barker you might even get some ideas to start a class newspaper of your own.