Penny Dreadful is a Complete Catastrophe by Joanna Nadin

"1409536076 " |title=Penny Dreadful is a Complete Catastrophe |author=Joanna Nadin |reviewer=Ali Baker |genre=For Sharing |rating=4.5 |buy=Maybe |borrow=Yes |isbn=978-1409536079 |paperback=1409536076 |hardback= |audiobook= |ebook= |pages=144 |publisher=Usborne |date=September 2011 |amazonuk= |amazonus= |website=http://www.joannanadin.com/ |video= |summary=Penny is not really Penny Dreadful. She is Penny Jones. But when her encounters with a rat called Rooney, a cat called Barry and her cousin Georgia May, and her testing of a patent burglar trap and digging for buried treasure all end in catastrophes, is it surprising that she is known as a Disaster Magnet? }}

This is a funny collection of three short stories all about Penny, her family, her friend Cosmo Moon Webster, the class goody-goody Bridget Grimes and her teacher Miss Patterson. Penny is a well-meaning and exuberent little girl who lives with her mum, dad, granny and annoying older sister, Daisy. The stories are all connected to Penny's over literal and over enthusiastic interpretation of instructions or events. So, we have Penny being told not to put her burglar trap in her bedroom, so instead she puts it in the kitchen, and her gran falls over it.

The stories are funny and enjoyable, and attractively presented using a variety of fonts and lots of fun black and white illustrations by Jess Mikhail. The first book in the series, Penny Dreadful is a Magnet for Disaster, has been nominated for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize. However, a couple of small points jarred with me: firstly, the school curriculum details could easily have been checked (do Key Stage 1 children really learn about Napoleon? and nature walks haven't been the only Science children learn since the mid-1980s), and secondly, some of the phrasing comes dangerously close to Lola-isms for me. However, this would be a fun collection to read to children, and the textual detail and illustrations would encourage children just developing the ability to read longer texts for themselves.

Young readers who enjoy this may like collections of short stories about another engagingly mischievous younger siblings such as Horrid Henry Rocks by Francesca Simon and Tony Ross, or delight in the smelliest witch ever, Pongwhiffy by Kaye Umansky.

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