The premise of this book is so odd that it shouldn't
have been entertaining. But I found
myself intrigued and can sort of understand why the UK BookTrust chose this as
the best book for 9-11 year olds.
The book takes you into the mind and attitudes of a
teenage boy who is in a class of underachievers. While the story is supposedly about a child
development science experiment, what I found was a level of understanding for
the pressures on young boys to take no interest in school work. The main character was an underachiever in
some ways but he was also sensitive and clever but no one recognised it.
As you can see from the cover the flour babies are little
sacks of flour which the boys had to look after for 3 weeks. The experiment results in some of the boys
realising just how hard it had been for their parents, some being put off the
idea of ever having babies and others scared stiff that they might make one by
accident.
I read this book a long time ago and thought it was very insightful and entertaining. It's interesting to note it was voted best book for 9-11 year olds too.
ReplyDelete