Kid Kibble (Racers) [Paperback]

Diana Hendry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 14, 1993 | Series: Racers

Ever since Ned and Jess's parents split, they've had to put up with lodgers in the house, and they've all been disasters. So they aren't exactly thrilled when Mum announces the arrival of Kid Kibble - especially when they learn that he is a teacher at their school. Jess takes against him at once, sure that he'll be good and clean and boring. But boring is one thing that Kid Kibble is certainly not. He arrives with a skeleton over his shoulder, a variety of animals and a trombone. Biologist, musician and eccentric, Kid Kibble turns the house into one huge laboratory, culminating in an episode when a plague of locusts and a host of bats take up lodgings in the kitchen. In the end even Jess is won over. Diana Hendry won the 1991 Whitbread Children's Novel Award for "Harvey Angell" and was shortlisted for the Smarties Prize for "Fiona Finds her Tongue". Her other books include "Midnight Pirate", "Hetty's First Fling", "Wonderful Robert and Sweetie-Pie Nell", "Hannah and Darjeeling", "The Dream Camel and the Dazzling Cat" and the novel "Double Vision".

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-5-What do a fresh-faced biology teacher, a horde of locusts, a confused boy, his scheming sister, their harried mother, and a wandering skeleton all have in common? They're links in a sticky scenario involving Ned and Jess and their latest boarder. When Ned discovers all of the strange things the man (dubbed Kid Kibble) keeps in his attic room, he's sold on the new tenant. But Jess is determined to put him to the test. Between her disastrous pranks and Kid's calamitous experiments, the household is turned on its ear. But it's ultimately Jess, who has learned to appreciate and identify with Kid, who helps convince everyone to make the situation work. Through dialogue and Ned's thoughtful observations, the author paints characters that readers can see and feel. The book is written for a slightly older audience than Hendry's The Carey Street Cat and The Not-Anywhere House (both Lothrop, 1991). Gon's simple black-ink sketches give readers just enough detail to see the conflict build. In all, an engaging story that will make youngsters wish they could import Kid Kibble into their own classrooms (or attics).
Christina Dorr, Calcium Primary School, NY
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Gr. 3-6. When Mom announces that Mr. Kibble, the new seventh-grade biology teacher, will be boarding in their home, Ned is apprehensive, but his sister, Jess, is mortified. Mr. Kibble arrives toting a skeleton named Ernest, a trombone, and assorted cages, and Ned realizes that Mr. Kibble (nickname Kid) is anything but ordinary. Life isn't ordinary either with Kid around: he takes Ned on worm hunts, breeds locusts in the sandbox, and fills the refrigerator with strange jars of bulls' eyes and fish heads. Even Ernest the skeleton begins to appear in strange places (in the bathtub and in front of the television). Young readers will revel in the humor of Hendry's episodic tale, amply illustrated with Gon's amusing pen-and-ink sketches. Linda Ward-Callaghan --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: Walker Books Ltd (October 14, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0744531012
• ISBN-13: 978-0744531015
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 4.9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces