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The Spy Who Loved School DinnersPamela Butchart
The Spy Who Loved School Dinners
by Pamela Butchart
Izzy is certain the new dinner lady is a Russian spy, and assembles evidence, a stakeout and a plan involving the whole of Year Five.
A story about children, funny and silly in tone. We would put it with children of 7–10, and at a reading age of about 8 for reading alone.
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We have not flagged any content in this one that a parent would usually want warning about.
Our take on this book
Izzy is convinced her new dinner lady is a Russian spy — the evidence is overwhelming, obviously — and she and her friends launch a full investigation, careering from one hilarious wrong conclusion to the next at breathless, capital-letters speed. Pamela Butchart writes some of the funniest books going for this age: narrated in Izzy's frantic, overexcited voice, illustrated with Thomas Flintham's manic cartoons, and built on the comic engine of a friendship group leaping to the most ridiculous conclusion possible and committing to it entirely. It is short, riotous and perfectly pitched for a child who wants maximum laughs, with nothing frightening at all. For a seven- to ten-year-old, especially a reluctant reader, Butchart's books are gold — the mad energy, the pictures and the sheer silliness make them fly by, and children who finish one immediately want the rest. A brilliant, giggle-inducing choice for turning a reader on to reading.
If they like this, try these
Chosen by matching age, reading age, tone and subject — not by what is selling.
Baby Aliens Got My Teacher!Pamela Butchart
Excellent Excuses (and Other Good Stuff)Liz Pichon
The Brilliant World of Tom GatesLiz Pichon
Or let them write their own.
Nothing gets a child reading like a story they invented themselves. Your child plans the characters and the plot, and we write, illustrate and print it as a real book with their name on the cover as the author.
Find another book
Tell us the age, the reading age and what they like, and we will suggest a handful.