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‘The hiccups at no 13’ is the story about a nine-year-old boy called Hamlet Brown. His parents are actors, and his older sister Susan is rather a goody-goody. Hamlet is prone to accidents, and to rebelling (in a mild way) against expectations. The first paragraph introduces us to Hamlet, in the midst of a bad bout of hiccups. His mother finds them annoying, and chaos ensues as she hands him a cooked breakfast just as he’s about to hiccup…
The rest of the book charts attempts at a hiccup cure, a visit to a church service where Susan is reading a lesson, and a professional play involving their father, where Susan has a small part. Oh, and there’s the temporary abduction of an aardvark. Nothing is straightforward in this family.
The writing is good, fast-paced and amusing. It’s written as a ‘young puffin’, intended for children (probably aged about seven to nine) who are reading for themselves but have not yet reached the level of full-length books. It’s even mildly educational, as far as aardvarks are concerned. It’s not condescending in any way, nor does the language seem to be ‘easy-read’, and in my view it’s suitable for any age. I enjoyed reading it aloud, and my grandson liked listening to it.
The book is divided into fairly short chapters, providing good stopping points if necessary. My grandson likes a book to be read aloud in its entirety, and I only paused once while reading this.
Definitely recommended for children, whatever age, who want ‘real’ books that aren’t too long, or as a quick read for fluent readers who want something light. Excellent, too, as I discovered, as a read-aloud.
Long out of print, but it's the kind of book I've seen regularly in charity shops.
Review copyright 2017 Sue's Book Reviews
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