February 2020, Ransom Publishing, 240 pages, Paperback, Review copy
Summary from Ransom Publishing
When Daniel's parents scoot off to Scotland instead of celebrating his
tenth birthday, leave his dipsy aunt in charge and give him a plant as
his present (not the PET he'd pleaded for), can you really blame him for
wishing he had a guinea pig instead of a brother? Now Daniel must
somehow undo the magic before his parents find out, whilst also managing
to defeat bullies, escape nutty chefs, make new friends and ultimately
learn how much he truly does love his younger brother (even if he now
eats his own poo).
Nayu's thoughts
I jumped at the chance to review Fergus's tale (or should it be tail?) because anything involve a human changing into an animal is amusing - I wasn't disappointed! The way Fergus transforms was amusing, although not for Daniel. I think most readers will recall a time when they had a disappointing birthday present, and while I understand why Daniel didn't get a pet, Daniel didn't. Thanks to birthday magic his wish about his annoying younger brother comes true: and that causes many problems!
Making excuses for why his brother doesn't appear to aunt only works because of how ditzy she is. I guess Daniel and Fergus's parents thought at least the aunt would keep them alive and relatively safer than if they were left on their own (which they couldn't be due to their ages). If they ever found out the truth they would rethink that notion. I think Fergus got to grips with being a guinea pig pretty quickly. The way he manages to communicate with Daniel is cute. I love that the magic brings the brothers closer together in the end, although Fergus will never stop being a bit annoying, as that is what siblings are like.
The story is chock full of humour, with some moments of peril that had me worried for Fergus's safety, but in the back of my head I knew this kind of tale is one that ends well. It is on my reread pile for sure, especially when I need a pick-me-up read not only for the story but the plentiful illustrations which add even more humour to the situations Daniel and Fergus wind up in.
Find out more on Emily's website.
No comments:
Post a Comment