Book Zone Box Set #2 - The Barry Loser Series by Jim Smith

For the second post in my new Book Zone Box Set, where I put the spotlight on a series of books that I have read an enjoyed, and would highly recommend to any parent asking about suitable books for their child, I have selected the pants-wettingly funny Barry Loser series by Jim Smith.

If you have a 7+ aged child who has not yet discovered the Barry Loser books then what are you doing? These are the kind of books that can get kids excited about reading, and as we know, once that happens at a young age it can become a lifelong passion. Not that there can be many children of that age in the UK have not already heard of these books. It's only three years since I Am Not A Loser was published in the UK, and we already have six full-length Barry Loser books in print, as well as the World Book Day title I Am Nit A Loser, and three e-books (two of which are currently free by following the links at the Barry Loser books webpage). Sales in the UK now exceed 400,000 copies, and along withh Liz Pichon's Tom Gates books, has become a genuine rival for Jeff Kinney's Wimpy Kid books here in the UK.

And there's more... last month saw the release of the first book in a brand new series from Jim Smith - Future Ratboy. Fans of the Barry Loser series will already know that this is a spin-off from the man series, as Future Ratboy is Barry's favourite TV show. Well now Future Ratboy has his very own book, titled Future Ratboy and the Attach of the Killer Robot Grannies, and it is even more hilarious (and keel) than the Barry Loser books themselves. 

Move over Spidey, get back in your cave Batman, and keep your glasses on Clark Kent, there's a new superhero in town. FUTURE RATBOY.

When a bolt of lightning hits Colin Lampost (and his toy bird, Bird), he is zapped millions of years into the future! Life will never be the same again. Bird has been brought to life as Not Bird and Brian's DNA is fused with a rat giving him superkeel powers. Future Ratboy is born!

But the future is not a safe place to be and there are killer robot grannies on the rampage! Will the dynamic duo survive the attack and save the world?

Join Future Ratboy and Not Bird on their first adventure to find out! 

And, Loser fans, there is still more. "Surely not!" I hear you cry, but yes. Not only is there all those Barry Loser books, and the new Future Ratboy book, but, released just this past week, is Barry Loser's Ultimate Book of Keelness. 

The ultimate book for fans of Barry Loser!

Packed full of brilliant content, including the World Book Day book I am nit a Loser, the short stories  ‘Bunky is a Loser’ and ‘My Dad is a Loser’, editions of the Daily Poo, a Q&A with Jim from his fans and pages of brand-new superkeel drawing guides and activities, Barry fans old and new will love Barry Loser’s Ultimate Book of Keelness.

This is another must-buy for all Barry Loser fans. It is full of fun activities, such as drawing tasks (noses, dog poos, fronkle cans) and a loserfan quiz, as well as brand new Barry Loser short stories and also the World Book Day I Am Nit A Loser story (just in cased you missed your chance to get a copy at the time).

I can't recommend these books enough for getting kids into reading for enjoyment. Is there a more heart-warming sound than that of a young child giggling away to themselves as they read a book? 

Review: Barry Loser: I Am Not A Loser by Jim Smith

I've never minded that my name's Barry Loser because my coolness has always cancelled it out, but ever since Darren Darrenofski joined school with his horrible little crocodile face he's been completely ruining my life about it. "I Am Not A Loser" is the first of three notebooks belonging to Barry Loser. Follow Barry as he tries throw off his loserness, take revenge on the terrible Fronkle-burping Darren Darrenofski and finally become a winner.

Any phenomenonly successful series naturally leads to a host of imitators. Harry Potter led to a plethora of titles set in magical worlds with witches and wizards. Horowitz's Alex Rider series opened the floodgates to a tide of teen agents. In the last few years we have now seen the same happen as a result of the popularity of Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I'm not criticising this at all - if a formula is found to be successful at getting kids to read then shared use of it can only be a good thing as long as quality is maintained.

Barry Loser: I Am Not A Loser is the latest of these Wimpy Kid-style books to hit the market. It is told in the words of the eponymous Barry Loser, a kid who despite his terrible surname has never suffered any problems at school because his "coolness has always cancelled it". However, the arrival of new kid Darren Darrenofski changes all of this, and through one playground incident Barry is instantly stripped of his coolness. The book follows his various misguided attempts to regain his coolness (or keelness as Barry and his best friend Bunky prefer to call it) and thus his popularity, presented as a series of vignettes which are guaranteed to make you laugh and cringe in equal measures.

What I loved most about this book is that Barry is not a particularly nice child. In fact, he is very much like a large number of pupils I have taught over the years. Kids who act very silly and annoying, and occasionally mean, but become popular because they make other kids laugh (often at the expense of others). And like in this book, sometimes another cooler kid has come along and suddenly the tables are turned. As such I didn't find myself sympathising with Barry's situation, but instead could laugh along at his cringeworthy attempts to be cool again. Stuff like going to school stilts, and wearing a bright yellow knitted woollen nose piece (supposedly in tribute to his favourite TV character, Future Ratboy).

As with other books like this Barry Loser is made a much easier read by the number of Jim Smith's illustrations throughout. In fact, there is a drawing on just about every page, and not a great deal of text either, and so even the most reluctant of readers can fly though the 230+ pages relatively quickly. I see how popular the Wimpy Kid books are with our reluctant reader 11 and 12 year olds at school, and therefore even though this is aimed at the 7+ age group I will be ordering a copy for the school library. I feel the level of toilet humour will make it a sure fire hit (oh how they love to read about poos, farts and bogies).

Barry Loser: I Am Not A Loser is published by Egmont today and my thanks go to the publishers for sending me a copy to review.