Grade 2-4-When young Fairy Nuff's family abandons him, he burns down the cottage on his very first night alone. The flaming roof and one live grenade explode into the sky, fly through the air, and land on the doghouse of the pit bull belonging to Widow Buhiss, a rich, vile old lady. Much havoc ensues as the waif rescues the Queen of England from the widow's woodshed; in the end, he is not only a knight, but also wealthy. This British import is an off-the-wall farce with silliness and puns galore. Kids will relish the broad humor and witty language, but the characters will really win them over. Inept Fairy Nuff, ogrelike groundskeeper Orc, tantrum-prone Widow Buhiss, the jowly Queen of England, and the commanding Queen of the Ants are all perfectly captured by the expressive and funny black-and-white illustrations. A good choice for fans of Roddy Doyle's The Giggler Treatment (2000) and Dav Pilkey's "Captain Underpants" series (both Scholastic).
Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Gr. 3-5. Comical and corny, this British cumulative farce relates how Fairy Nuff's lighting a candle on top of a barrel of gunpowder causes a cottage in Bluebell Wood to burn down and propels a grenade into the mansion of Widow Buhiss (as in "boo . . . hiss"), who sends her brutish groundskeeper to snatch Nuff's head. Add to the domino construct a kidnapped queen, huge African ants that live on elephants, carnivorous plants, and "twenty thousand billion pounds worth of share certificates." Short chapters and rapid action link the shenanigans, and black-and-white drawings highlight the absurdities. Some of the humor seems rather adult (the queen refers to herself as the royal "we") and there's a scattering of Briticisms. But none of that will stop kids from grinning and enjoying themselves. Unfortunately, the coarse paper detracts from the overall look of the book. Julie Cummins
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
See all Editorial Reviews
