Awful Auntie by David Walliams
This book is targeting children from the age of 8 or 9 as a self-reading book. However, it is a book that could be read as a bedtime story or read with your child. The premise is around four characters, a little girl of 12, Stella Saxby and her Aunt Alberta. Aunt Alberta is the awful auntie. The two other characters are Soot, a chimney sweep ghost, and Wagner, a great Bavarian Mountain Owl.
Book Review under 400 Words
Aunt Alberta is desperate to inherit Saxby Hall. As a bad loser at tiddlywinks, Aunt Alberta has placed a tremendous financial burden on the family. Her brother Lord Saxby is trying to save the home and makes various trips to London. On one trip, there is a car accident, and Lord and Lady Saxby die. Aunt Alberta can see the inheritance within her grasp. However, there are two obstacles in her way, the deeds to the house and her niece, Stella Saxby. We meet our heroine as she wakes up after the car crash. She is wrapped in bandages and tied to her bed. Aunt Alberta tells Stella she was in a coma for months, and she and Wagner have been caring for her.
Stella manages to escape from the bandages and is then thrown into the cellar and meets Soot, our friendly ghost. Together they outwit Aunt Alberta and uncover the mystery of her uncle, who mysteriously disappeared when he was a baby.
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If you’re creative with your voice and enjoy reading to your child, this could be the perfect book for you. With only four characters, you can give each character a distinctive voice, which will bring the book alive. It is a book you could pick up and put down, but one that you will certainly want to finish.
This book has many comedy moments, which you would expect from David Walliams. The adults are buffoons, and the children are sensible and ingenious. The story’s pacing is perfect for children, and the action is moved from one mini calamity to the next. My only criticism is that David Walliams makes lists within the story. We usually have a list of maybe three or four items. However, David Walliams has eight or nine items on the list, and it gets rather tedious. It is a fun book and one that a child of eight and nine will enjoy. There is a murder within the book, however, it is not traumatic for the reader. Our hero survives her awful auntie and turns Saxby Hall into a Children’s Home.
The Birmingham Stage Company turned the story into a play, and there is talk of a film.
Availability of Awful Auntie by David Walliams
David Walliams has written other books, that you may find interesting. Here is the link to his website.
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