The Diary of Dennis the Menace: Rollercoaster Riot by Steven Butler
| The Diary of Dennis the Menace: Rollercoaster Riot by Steven Butler | |
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| Category: Confident Readers | |
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Reviewer: John Lloyd
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| Summary: Some might say this is a lesser entry to this series, especially as the first was quite clever in justifying itself. I'd disagree – this is slight, but still good fun. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 176 | Date: August 2014 |
| Publisher: Puffin | |
| ISBN: 9780141355740 | |
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Beanoland, Beanotown, is going to be the home of the world's most extreme rollercoaster, the Vomit Comet, and as he's a fan of all things extreme, scary and menacing, Dennis the Menace is determined to brighten up his current school term with an early ride on it. By an act of subterfuge during his latest detention he finds out the school is holding a competition to win the prize of being first in line at its grand opening. Surely this has Dennis's name all over it? Well, he thinks so – but then he doesn't yet know what he has to do to win the contest…
We know Dennis is a persistent kid, but we wouldn't have thought before this series came along that he would have managed three whole books, all by himself. I enjoyed the first, particularly as it had a strong sense of purpose – a school task, to write a journal, but done his way, as a host of menacing tips too. It had a plot that defined its own existence, and still went further into his world than months of the weekly comic could have managed. And of course the books were full of scribbles, GIANT lettering, and more, so the volume filled a happy middle ground between the cartooning and a 'proper' book for a reluctant reader (like Dennis himself).
Yet while some of that has been dropped there's still enough in these pages for me to rate the book the same. There's his chatty delivery, talking to both us and himself, and only really needing to cheat the diary format a couple of times (along the lines of 'it's 8.45 and I only have time to scribble this entry in my diary to remind you that the most exciting thing in the world is going to happen at 8.48 and I mustn't be seen to be writing this diary so I'll stop – partly because now I've written this sentence I've missed the most exciting thing in the world and I'll have to tell you all about it in another chapter – look out for it past this doodle ').
That chattiness and the exuberance of the character get you through the pages very quickly, just as before. But where I might have expected this book to be inferior to the initial one for having a weaker, smaller plot to it, I enjoyed it much the same. It drops a little of the moralising, which also helps you forget how unlikely this book's existence actually is, given Dennis's hobbies. We get fewer tips regarding those, and a straighter narrative about him putting them to use for one end – and an amusing section where it doesn't all go right for him at all. We close with adverts for many other books, including the fourth in this series, which are hitting us every six months, and a photo of our author that proves he's about twelve. It's fun to see him put his talents to such use just as much as his lead character does.
I must thank the publishers for my review copy. We also have ar review of The Diary of Dennis the Menace: The Great Escape.
Book one was where it all began. I guess Dennis is the sort of person who picks on the main character of Danger Is Everywhere: A Handbook for Avoiding Danger by David O'Doherty and Chris Judge so. Readers of both should enjoy the other to some extent.
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You can read more book reviews or buy The Diary of Dennis the Menace: Rollercoaster Riot by Steven Butler at Amazon.com.
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