Review: Casper Candlewacks in the Time Travelling Toaster by Ivan Brett

Most villages have an idiot but Casper's village is full of them. So being bright makes Casper something of an outsider.

Luckily Casper has Lamp to him company – his less-than-bright best mate who is also a strangely ingenious inventor.

Lamp’s latest invention is a time-travelling toaster – or so he says. But can a toaster really transport them through space and time or will they both just end up as toast?

The final tale in the hilarious Casper Candlewacks series. You’d have to be an idiot to miss it!

I am beginning to feel a little like a stuck record when it comes to reviews for Ivan Brett's superb Casper Candlewacks books. So much so that I do believe I have now run out of superlatives to describe them. And as my review of the third book in the series, Attack of the Brainiacs, was little more than a recycling of my reviews of the previous two books, I'm feeling more than a little stuck right now.

If you have an 8+ boy (or girl) who has not yet read Ivan's books then you really must get your hands on them by whatever (legal) means necessary. Ivan's work is possibly overshadowed by the likes of Andy Stanton's Mr Gum books, whose popularity were helped just a little by a celebrity endorsement from Kate Winslet, but in my opinion the Casper Candlewacks books are just as good, if not better then the Mr Gum series. Back when I read the first Casper book I suggested that comparing his writing with that of Roald Dahl would be premature, and now we are at the fourth book and I think it is fair to say that the books compare very favourably. Yes, I now think David Walliams is the true successor to Dahl's crown, but if Walliams is the new king of funny children's books then Ivan Brett is certainly the prince.

I have enjoyed all of the books in this series so much that it is difficult to name a favourite, but this latest one, Casper Candlewacks in the Time Travelling Toaster, is certainly a contender. In this book Casper, his friend Lamp Flannigan and the vile Anemonie Blight find themselves flung one hundred years into the future by Lamp's latest invention, a time machine made from a toaster and some old clocks and watches. What they find there is the stuff of nightmares (for Casper at least), and this time maybe even the boy genius won't be able to save the day and the future of the village of Corne-on-the-Kobb.

Sadly this is the final outing for Casper Candlewacks. I do not know whether Ivan Brett has anything else lined up at the moment, but I for one will be keeping my eyes peeled for any news on this front. My thanks go to the ever wonderful Rosi at HarperCollins for sending me a copy to review, despite the best efforts of Royal Mail to scupper this plan. Casper Candlewacks in the Time Travelling Toaster was published at the beginning of January.

Review: Casper Candlewacks in Attack of the Brainiacs by Ivan Brett

You know what it's like - you wait all day for someone to open a restaurant and then two come along at once. But this village isn't big enough for the both of them! Fists will fly and so will custard, mustard and sausage rolls as Casper and his dad try to won the world's biggest ever food fight.

There is very little I can say about Casper Candlewacks in Attack of the Brainiacs, that I have not already said about the two previous books in this fab series from Ivan Brett. Every good word I wrote about Death By Pigeon and Claws of Crime applies to this book as well, so in the interest of global sustainability I think I'm going to recycle those two reviews:

It should come with a health warning: if read at bedtime make sure plastic bed sheets are fitted as your child will laugh so much a little bit of wee may come out.

The characters are a delight to read, both main and secondary and Ivan Brett's word-play is sublime.

Publishers please take note - we want more books like this.

[Ivan Brett's ] future could be so bright a pair of shades just might be required pretty soon (and now, three books in, I hope he has invested in those sunglasses).

Please feel free to call this lazy reviewing, but there are only so many ways of saying a book (or series of books in this case) is brilliant and should be an essential requirement for all local and primary school libraries (and why not secondary schools as well, whilst we're at it). I have been recommending these books left, right and centre to everyone I know who has 8-11 children, and a good few who have younger kids as they also make brilliant bedtime readers.

In this third outing for Casper, the only sensible boy in a village full of idiots, things start to become decidedly weird as our hero and his peers start at senior school, in their case St. Simians in the nearby city of High Kobb. A run in with the school's resident family of neanderthal bullies soon becomes the least of his worries as he starts to realise that his previously idiotic classmates are suddenly showing signs of extreme intelligence. How could Lamp, inventor of ridiculous contraptions, suddenly be capable of finishing a grammar sheet before it is even handed out and other such feats of cerebral brilliance? Is it something in the High Kobb air, or is it something closer to home?

As well as this, Casper also has to contend with the forthcoming re-opening of his father's restaurant back in Corne-on-the-Kobb. All is going as expected (i.e. not particularly swimmingly) when things take a turn for the worse when a rival restaurant is opened on the same night, run by sinister French chef, Renee. So begins a battle of wits more vicious than anything seen in Midsomer Murders. Who will win the right to have the only restaurant in Corne-on-the Kobb? Will Casper's friendship with Lamp endure the ultimate of betrayals? And just what is it that is making everyone so clever?

Yes, Candlewacks fans, Ivan Brett has delivered yet again and in doing so he has proven that he is definitely no Falco or Tone-Loc*. 

My thanks go to the lovely people at HarperCollins (yes, I mean you Rosi) for sending me a copy to review.

* Did you get this reference, fans of obscure 80s pop?

Review: Casper Candlewacks in the Claws of Crime by Ivan Brett

Most villages have an idiot but Casper's village is full of them. So being bright makes poor Casper something of an outsider.

An infamous cat burglar has struck in the village of Corne-on-the-Kobb, stealing a precious jewelled sword and kidnapping Casper’s baby sister. To make matters worse a gaggle of amateur detectives are on the case, questioning the villagers and getting in the way. Armed only with his wits, an egg-boiling lie-detecting machine and his best friend Lamp, can Casper rescue his sister and save the day?

Casper Candlewacks in Death By Pigeon was one of my favourite books of 2011. At the time of reading I had been going through a case of the much dreaded blogger burnout, struggling to get into many of the books I was being sent by publishers, and it was Ivan Brett's hilarious début that cured me. At the time I suggested that it should come with a health warning: if read at bedtime make sure plastic bed sheets are fitted as your child will laugh so much a little bit of wee may come out. Now the sequel, Casper Candlewacks in the Claws of Crime, has finally hit the books stores and please believe me when I say that you had better get those plastic sheets back out of storage and back on to those beds.

In this second episode in the life of the only non-stupid person in the superbly named village of Corne-on-the-Kobb, Casper and his inventor friend Lamp have to play detective. Infamous cat burglar, Le Chat, is in town and he has stolen the village's prize ancient artefact - the priceless bejewelled sword of Sir Gossamer D'Glaze. The mayor of C-o-t-K has offered a £20,000 reward for whoever captures the burglar and retrieves said sword, and with Julius Candlewacks needing exactly that amount of money to re-establish his restaurant, his son sees it as his duty to solve the crime. Of course, every one of the idiotic villagers also want to get their hands on the reward money, as do a horde of amateur detectives who descend on the village (although fortunately for Casper they are almost as stupid as his fellow villagers).

In the process of trying to catch the criminal, Casper's baby sister Cuddles is kidnapped by Le Chat, who leaves a note for the villagers to say that he will only release her if they guarantee safe passage out of the village. Of course, most of the villagers have at some point been on the receiving end of a bite from the somewhat vicious baby, and they are less than sympathetic, leaving it to Casper and Lamp to retrieve the sword, rescue the baby, capture the thief and save the world day. Added to the mix is the new girl in the village, Daisy Blossom, who has a big effect on both Casper and Lamp. With the aid of Lamp's latest invention, a bizarre lie-detecting machine christened The Bluff Boiler, the duo turned trio begin their sleuthing - what is the identity of the mysterious Le Chat?

There are a number of authors who seem to be vying for the title of "The New Roald Dahl" and based on the evidence so far I would suggest that Ivan Brett is in with a great shout. His characters are a delight to read, both main and secondary and his word-play is sublime. The closest contender for the crown would probably be Andy Stanton, although on reflection I think I prefer the silliness of Brett's Casper Candlewacks books to the over-the-top anarchy of the Mr Gum books. As far as laughs go, I think there is only one other book I have read in the past six months that made me laugh as much as the Casper Candlewacks books, and that was an unpublished book written by a friend of mine.

Casper Candlewacks in the Claws of Crime is a must-read book for any 7+ child who loves a good laugh, and it is perfect for bedtime reading by a parent as well. Although the second in a series it is fine to be read as a stand-alone book, but you are definitely missing out if you don't at some point get your hands on a copy of Death By Pigeon as well. What's more, it llooks as if we only have to wait until April for the next silly adventure, Casper Candlewacks in the Attack of the Brainiacs! My thanks go to the good people at HarperCollins for sending me a copy to review.

Roald Dahl Day 2011

Today is Roald Dahl Day so let the celebrations commence! As legends from the world of chidlren's fiction go you don't get much bigger than Roald Dahl and so last year I wrote this post to celebrate. Obviously being nothing but a mere blogger I thought at the time I would turn to a few of the super-talented friends of The Book Zone to share their thoughts about the man himself and what his work meant to them. Reading their pieces gave me so much enjoyment that I thought what better way to celebrate in 2011 than do it all over again? And so today I am joined by three authors who between them have written some of my favourite books of the past two years: Ivan Brett, Sarwat Chadda and Will Hill. Another of my favourite recent authors, William Hussey, is such a huge fan of Roald Dahl that he wrote a super-long piece for me and so I am going to give it the hnour of its own spot here on The Book Zone later today, so please come back, I guarantee you will not be disappointed. And so, without further ado, let me hand you over to the experts:

Ivan Brett (author of Casper Candlewacks: Death By Pigeon) 

When I was at school, Roald Dahl's books had become such a staple that 'discovering' him was impossible. Of course he inspired me, and the likes of George's Marvellous Medicine and The Witches constantly pop up in my mind when they're not supposed to. But Roald Dahl made his biggest impression on me a decade later when I started reading his adult short stories. The economy of writing is superb: every word is necessary. Add to this the macabre plot twists and irreverent use of language, he's absolutely perfect the art. I'll contend that nobody can ever beat him when it comes to short fiction. I'd recommend the short story collections 'Someone Like You' and 'Kiss Kiss' to newcomers, but there's plenty else around, none of it what you'd expect. (On that note, read them alone before reading them to your kids.)

Three years ago, I started writing short stories because of Roald Dahl. Two years ago, I switched to Children's fiction, probably because of the same guy. What's next? (I'll probably steer clear of mimicking the style of 'My Uncle Oswald', if you're wondering.)

Sarwat Chadda (author of Devil's Kiss and Dark Goddess) 

My latest encounter with Mr. Dahl was listening to his narration of the Fantastic Mr. Fox. I’d seen the movie recently and thought, hey, this will be one for the kids to listen to as we drive around on holiday.

By the end of the journey there were tears and trauma all round.

 
Have you read the Fantastic Mr. Fox? I've never suffered an anxiety attack before but that probably was the closest. It comes across as the book Hannibel Lecter should have written. Mutilations, brutality and in one scene, Mr. Fox's children ask their parents in anxious, timid voices if there will be dogs set on them.

Setting DOGS ON CHILDREN?

What modern author could get away with that? What modern author would even think of it?

His figures are grotesque, macabre and magnificent. Dahl doesn’t care who gets upset and has nightmares, Dahl never let anything stand in the way of his story. That’s what I love about him. By all accounts he wasn’t a nice man at all and maybe that’s why he’s the GREATEST CHILDREN’S AUTHOR EVER.

I think we’ve become more guarded about what we feed our children, like those Victorians who sanitised those nasty, sexual fairy tales. We ‘age band’ and shelve according to tastes while childhood should be all about exploring the widest worlds possible, not tucking books into ‘For Teens’ or for ‘Mature Readers’. Dahl’s stories were utterly immature and utterly without fear. No-one wrote more frightening, edgy tales than he and then (stroke of genius or what?) fed them to us when we were tiny and impressionable.

Will Hill (author of Department 19) 

While I don’t believe that a writer has to live an interesting and exciting life to write interesting and exciting stories, it certainly couldn’t hurt to have lived the life that Roald Dahl brings beautifully and joyously to life in my two favourite books of his, Boy and Going Solo.

The seeds of the novels with which he would later spellbind generations of children (and adults!) are there for all to see – the larger-than-life cast of eccentric adults, the sense of adventure lurking around every corner, the plots children hatch, often to get even with injustices committed by the grown-ups that surround them, are all wrapped up in the fierce sense of love and loyalty that clearly filled the Dahl clan.

Boy covers his time at Llandaff Cathedral School, St. Peter’s School and at Repton, the three institutions that act as the backdrop for his formative years. He encounters triumph (the boxes of chocolates that Cadbury’s ask him and his classmates to review, a gloriously wicked revenge against a local sweet shop owner) alongside his first understanding that the adult world can be unfair, and even cruel (I still find his account of being given ten strokes with the cane very hard to read) before he joins it for himself in the pages of Going Solo.

The second volume chronicles a life that seems almost too full of adventure and derring-do to be real – the young Dahl is shipped out to Tanganyika (as was) to work for Shell, and finds himself surrounded by an astonishing cast of utterly bonkers ex-pat colonials, local tribesmen, snakes, scorpions, lions, and every other conceivable joy. Until the late 1930s, when war comes to the continent, and Dahl joins the RAF as a fighter pilot.

That’s right.
The man who would later devote himself to words, to quietly writing masterpieces of children’s literature in his shed in Great Missenden, spends many months of the Second World War throwing Tiger Moths and Hurricanes around the skies over Egypt and Greece, dogfighting with German fighters and chasing bombers to their targets, experiencing the euphoria and terror of combat, and sustaining terrible injury along the way. It’s almost unbelievable. But it happened, every word of it.



I won’t say any more, as to give away any of the wonders in these two fabulous books (written, as always, in Dahl’s inimitably witty and caustic style) would be a crime for which I can’t think of a suitable punishment. But as pieces of autobiography, as insights into the perennial question of where a writer gets his ideas, and as works of brilliant, effortless storytelling, they succeed on every level, and I defy anyone who reads them to feel otherwise.

~~~

Huge, huge thanks to Ivan, Will and Sarwat for taking the time to do this for The Book Zone. I hope all the readers of this blog have a wonderful Roald Dahl Day and don;t forget to come back later for William Hussey's fab guest post. Last year I celebrated by reading The BFG; this evening it is going to be the turn of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Anyone for some Whipplescrumptiousfudgemallowdelight?

Review: Casper Candlewacks in Death By Pigeon by Ivan Brett

Casper Candlewacks is the only boy with any sense in a village full of idiots. 
Most villages have an idiot but Casper's village is full of them. So being bright makes poor Casper something of an outsider. When famous magician the Great Tiramisu curses the village, Casper's father is blamed and sentenced to death by pigeon. It's up to Casper and his best friend to find the magician, reverse the curse and save the day.


A riotous tale that proves all you really need in life is a buggy that runs on washing-up liquid and a couple of boys to crash it.

I do not tend to read so-called comedy books for adults, as they invariably leave me cold. I remember reading a couple of Ben Elton's early books way back when I was younger, and simply did not find them funny. This is no reflection on Mr Elton; I have tried other 'funny' books since and most of them barely manage to prise a mediocre chuckle from my lips, let alone a belly splitting guffaw. I guess this is why I don't tend to read that many 'billed as comedy' books for kids either, despite my life long love of Roald Dahl, and the laughs his work continues to give me. However, I am not averse to giving books like this a try, and the early buzz about this book certainly caught my attention on Twitter, and I am so glad the generous people at HarperCollins sent me a copy. There have been some pretty fantastic books released so far in 2011, and this hilarious debut by Ivan Brett ranks right up there as one of my personal favourites. In fact, it should come with a health warning: if read at bedtime make sure plastic bed sheets are fitted as your child will laugh so much a little bit of wee may come out.

As the blurb says, our hero, Casper Candlewacks (just the first in a plethora of clever plays on words in this book), is the only boy with any sense living in a village full of idiots, that village being the wonderfully named Corne-on-the-Kobb. Such an obvious premise I am surprised it hasn't been used more often, and it is made all the better by the fact that none of the other inhabitants of said village realise just how stupid they are - the closest they get to this is their dislike for Casper, because he is different. And by different we mean he can do things like joined-up writing and knows his times tables. In Chapter One we see first hand some of the persecution young Casper faces on a daily basis, this time from his teacher, Mrs Snagg - a distinctly unpleasant lady that no child of average intelligence or above would enjoy having for lessons. In fact, she is so stupid that she can't even read - she sets Ivan a punishment essay about the soon-to-be-visiting magician, the Great Tiramisu, and he manages to submit a previously completed essay on Brazil in its place without her having the slightest clue. And Corne-on-the-Kobb is full of people like this.

You would be right in thinking that Casper's life is pretty miserable. He is bullied by both teachers and pupils at school, his mother suffers from some form of post-natal depression that has manifested itself in the form of an addiction to watching TV, his younger sibling Cuddles (Casper still hasn't worked out if it is a boy or a girl) has razor-sharp teeth and will gnaw on just about anything, and his father is left to do all of the household tasks, as well as the head chef at the village's only restaurant, The Boiled Sprout. Casper's only friend is a boy called Lamp, although he is possibly the most idiotic boy in the village full of idiots. Lamp is obsessed with inventing things, many of which are unmitigated disasters, although to tell you about some of them would ruin the laughs in store for you. For this same reason I am not going to reveal any more about the plot - suffice to say this is one of 2011s must read books for the 9+ age group. Girls will find it funny as well, although I have a feeling that the humour will have the greatest appeal to boys. 

To compare Ivan Brett with the great Roald Dahl would be incredibly premature, this being only his first book, although I am sure there will be a number of readers already drawing these parallels, especially in the way that both authors have littered their work with nasty secondary characters, whom readers just can't wait to see come to some kind of sticky end. However, on the basis of this story his future could be so bright a pair of shades just might be required pretty soon. Publishers please take note - we want more books like this. We've had many years of great books aimed at the teen market, surely it is now time for the Middle Grade audience to be spoiled as well?!