April 2018, Barrington Stoke, 96 pages, Paperback, Review copy
Summary from Barrington Stoke
When the village wires get crossed after a storm, there’s a lot of
confusion and plenty of missed connections. Margaret can’t run her
summer fair, Jai can’t speak to Aditi, and Will is rather happy because
no one can tell his mum how much trouble he’s in! Can the villagers
learn to love their neighbours and could the great telephone mix-up
really be a blessing in disguise?
Nayu's thoughts
I was intrigued by how telephone lines could be mixed, as
well as liking Sheena's previous work and I wasn't disappointed by
this book! The reason for the crossed telephone wires was believable. I loved how it
forced people who ordinarily wouldn't say hi to each other not only
to chat because passing on the other person's message was the
polite thing to do, but they enjoyed it and continued their new found
friendships after the phones finally got fixed.
As a reader it
reminded me people often juggle more than they are letting on, or are too shy to
ask an important question which could change their life in a positive
way. There is a real sense of community to the village which wasn't
there before the phone incident, the most pleasing outcome was
someone recognising a character needed help (this is vague on purpose
because several characters are helped but one in particular made me
extremely happy because sometimes a person just needs 1 opportunity to
change their life around). Obviously I was thrilled a cat featured in
the tale which has a happy ending. The community spirit here feels
replicated in real life whenever we have a power cut or lots of snow
making ordinary travel tricky. As usual Barrington Stoke have awesome
books in easy to read off white pages and clear fonts.
Suggested read
Another book from Sally and Sheena is Billy
Button Telegram Boy by Sally Nicholls and Sheena Dempsey (Children's, 5
years +, 10/10E, Dyslexia friendly, short 'n' sweet review)
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