The 5 Misfits
Beatrice Alemagna
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
Let’s hear it for the misfits – five of them as served up by the hugely talented Beatrice Alemagna. This motely quintet somehow manage to reside together in a tumbledown house despite – or perhaps because of – their shortcomings.
Misfit number one is a holey individual …

Number two is neatly folded, concertina style …

The third is feeble – floppy, tired and sleepy …

The fourth is an upside downer

and last and least, the fifth is a complete catastrophe and probably best forgotten.

Enter stage left the Perfect One with an amazing hairstyle and sporting stylish pantaloons.

This faultless being proceeds to interrogate the residents of the lopsided house making them feel even more worthless – well actually no. Maybe that was his intention, with his talk of ideas,

but the result is something altogether else.
Alemagna’s tongue-in-cheek allegorical extravaganza is delivered with wit and panache. Inclusivity and finding your own unique inner self are two of the themes that emerge loud and clear from this wise and thought-provoking offering.
Philosophy for primary children is creeping onto the curriculum in more schools (and not before time). Here’s a great starting point for a ‘community of inquiry’ style discussion with sevens and above.

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