What a year for Maz Evans, and us as lucky readers! Hot on the heels of the brilliant Vi Spy comes this hilarious book about dealing with feelings.
Scarlett Fife has BIG FEELINGS.
And she's about to get into BIG TROUBLE.
Following the exploits of Scarlett as she comes to terms with all that everyday life throws at her (from school issues with William U to cancelled birthday parties and the usual family dramas) the book is hilariously funny, as Scarlett's feelings and anger cause 'tummy bubbles' that quite literally explode, causing all sorts of drama and chaos in classrooms, at home and on school trips too. Will she ever be able to control her feelings so she can take Mr Nibbles (the class hamster) home for the weekend!?
What I loved most about this book was Maz Evans' brilliant ability to capture the hilarious nature of children's views of the world through the characters' observations. From Scarlett's brutally truthful comments about others ('really old, like 30') to her misunderstandings of adult conversations...Maz brilliantly captures the humour of situations seen through Scarlett's eyes throughout the book with her clever use of language:
a stepdad who Scarlett thought 'could be used to get into the attic', a 'poosport' for a child who always needs the toilet, and an 'insect day' being a day when teachers spend time with ladybirds...the humour is laugh out loud, and as a teacher and dad, I can see the humour from both points of view, and also see that children will love it as well...elephant poo, 'botty pops' and an evil teacher called Ms Pitt-Bull...all the elements for a great read aloud are included.
More great stuff from this brilliant author, with hilarious pictures, graphs and diagrams by Chris Jevons that add even more fun to the reader’s experience.
The Exploding Life of Scarlett Fife is out now, published by Hachette.
See Maz reading from the book here:
Find out more at https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/maz-evans/the-exploding-life-of-scarlett-fife/9781444957693/ or by following them on Twitter as @HachetteKids
Follow Maz on Twitter as @MaryAliceEvans, and illustrator Chris Jevons as @Chris_Jev
Thanks to Hannah for inviting me on the blogtour.
Review by Rich Simpson (@richreadalot) June 2021