Too Small To Fall by Morris Gleitzman (Children's, 9 years +)

4th August 2011, Puffin, 

192 pages, Paperback

Review copy 

Children's, 9 years plus

Themes: child's imagination, maths, banks, a dog, a camel, misunderstanding, lots of money, learning harsh realities of life, animal cruelty, trade, tenuous friendship, some humour, a tissue is needed. 

Summary from Puffin

1 boy. 

1 girl. 

1 camel. 

Squillions of dollars. 

A plan that can't fail. Or can it? 

Oliver's parents own a bank. This makes them very rich, very important and very busy. Oliver, on the other hand, is terrible at maths and aspires to nothing more than owning the puppy that he frequently visits at his local pet shop. 

When a mysterious woman threatens to harm the puppy if Oliver can't remake her fortune (unfortunately, Oliver's parents seem to have misplaced her investment. Something to do with stuff on the news) Oliver hatches a plan which will take him further than he ever imagined....

Nayuleska's reasons for loving Oliver...he desperately wants to do the right thing and be kind to other people, even if it means those he loves won't like him for a while. 

Is there another character who deserves a mention? Rose has quite an attitude and puts up lots of thorns as protection, but her soft side does peek out every now and then. 

How nasty/evil is the enemy? People who hurt animals are evil. Also on shaky moral ground are those who take money and don't return it. 

Are there lots of plot twists and surprises? Morris is his usual self and surprised me in each chapter. 

One of my favourite parts was...when Oliver comforted Rose, as it was a touching scene. Plus what Oliver does at the end is very brave. 

This insightful read gets 9/10 from me. 

Be sure to check out more about this and other books by Morris on his website.

Go enter the competition to win a copy of this book!

Suggested read

For another crazy story about making money, try Missing, Believed Crazy by Terence Blacker