Dexter Procter the 10-year old doctor
Adam Kay, illustrated by Henry Paker
Puffin

Pretty much the moment he was born it was evident that Dexter Proctor was no ordinary infant. He spoke his first words when just four seconds old and by the age of three when most little ones are entering nursery, Dexter had passed eighty six A-levels. By age ten he was working as a paediatrician at Lilydale General Hospital having gained A* in all his exams at medical school bar communication skills where he only managed a B minus.

On his very first day he’s assigned to A & E where during the afternoon he’s called a genius by one of his first patients – a man who had a toilet seat stuck on his head,

or rather he did until Dexter successfully extricated him from his ‘bathroom-themed necklace’. It will come as no surprise however to learn that many others Dexter encountered are much more ageist towards him.

Pretty soon Dexter is moved to the paediatrics department where he has a few run ins with Dr Drake who quickly becomes his arch enemy. Add to this that the boy is constantly having to navigate the challenges posed by his irritating, albeit loving family and his loyal friends, not to mention a bullying classmate nemesis Toby Tanner who turns up with a troublesome foot. No prizes for guessing who he’s related to.
Then comes a major issue at Dexter’s old school where all the teachers are inexplicably struck down with severe diarrhoea; what on earth or in the school staffroom is the cause. Can Dexter possibly solve the mystery, save his medical career and find his place in the world?

Brimming over with humour, some of it of the gross kind, Adam Kay’s first novel for KS2 readers, liberally dosed with Henry Paker’s hilarious illustrations to complement the text, will have readers giggling all the way to the final letter.