Tag Bethany Walker

Medusa Gorgon’s Deadly Side Eye

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Medusa Gorgon’s Deadly Side Eye
Bethany Walker, illustrated by Katie Abey
Scholastic

For me this was even funnier than Medusa Gorgon’s Bad Hair Day: I found myself laughing at almost every turn of the page. Again it’s written in diary form with lots of amusing illustrations by Katie Abey.

After six weeks spent holidaying with her friends it’s early September and Meddy G has returned for a new term at Shadewell Academy where she’s now entering year eight and her intention is to be the best Year 8 she can. She is, she tells us, fully committed to 21st century life and her snake friends Mr Car and Ian have seemingly, disappeared.
Things start pretty well, other than her being chastised by headteacher Ms Williams about her uniform style. However, it’s hardly any time before Meddy’s stress levels start rising. It’s during the first whole school assembly when she’s called up onto the stage by the head and is asked to speak about the final day of the summer term. What she announces is … “I … like … performing … magic tricks.” This satisfies Ms Williams who then proceeds to ask her to perform more magic in assembly the following week.

Before that though, she enjoys a weekend shopping trip to Shadwell Mall. ‘Does shopping count as a hobby in the twenty first century,’ she wonders. I loved her comment re Boots, which she’s bemused to learn does not sell footwear.
Suddenly Meddy’s stress levels start going through the roof, to the extent that she accidentally turns Ms Williams to stone. All this by the end of Act 1.

Highly amusing too is the H.E.A.T (Hermes Express Air Tortoise) correspondence between Hades and Athena interspersed between the diary entries.

I’ll leave readers to discover what unfolds in the 2nd and 3rd acts apart from saying that there’s a sudden new trend in ‘snonnets’

with Meddy becoming a fashionista. Enough said! That and the appearance of new boy Percy who makes Meddy get all hot and bothered when he’s around. (What she isn’t aware of is that Percy is actually none other than Perseus, sent on a mission to take down Meddy G.) Oh and further incidents of turning people to stone.

Medusa Gorgon is based (very loosely) on the Medusa Greek myth, making it a great choice for young Greek mythology enthusiasts especially. However, other readers who enjoy a good laugh should try it too.

Medusa Gorgon’s Bad Hair Day

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Medusa Gorgon’s Bad Hair Day
Bethany Walker, illustrated by Katie Abey
Scholastic

Meet Medusa Gorgon age twelve. She works as a guardian in the temple of the goddess Athena. Medusa is rather hot-tempered and her best friend, Arachne has suggested that writing a diary to release and channel her feelings would help her. A good idea indeed but then Medusa upsets Athena who banishes her to the twenty-first century to retrieve the goddesses’ shield, the very shield and prized possession that Medusa might have disposed of into Hades’ well in a fit of anger over her friend, Arachne, being turned into a spider.

The outcome is that Medusa’s life becomes a series of very bad days. For starters, thanks to Athena, she’s had her hair changed into snakes, ‘vile, ugly, angry, slithering snakes’ that constantly hiss atop her head. There’s an awful lot to learn in this place of banishment including things relating to human homes in England. She certainly can’t let her ‘carers’ do such things as drink from the toilet

and as for life at Shadwell Academy secondary school, bewilderment doesn’t come into it. Then comes the language issue: yes she is able to understand and speak the language of the twenty-first century but ‘actually knowing what they’re talking about’ is a very different matter (so true). And who should Medusa try to make friends with – another tricky thing to try and get right.

With friendship at the heart of the whole story, this is a great read – funny, pacy and splendidly illustrated by Katie Abey. The book draws quite heavily on the Greek myths but it matters not if readers are familiar with Medusa, Arachne, Athena, Hades et al. (I should mention that there’s an on-going correspondence between Athena and Hades via Hermes Express Air Tortoise aka H.E.A.T.) And as for the shield – is it ever returned to Athena? Then what about the fate of Arachne? To find out, you must get a copy of this hilarious book for yourself.

How To Train Your Teacher

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How To Train Your Teacher
Bethany Walker and Sophie Kent
Scholastic

From its title you anticipate this will be a fun story and so it is. Having taught both nursery children and reception classes for a considerable time I found it particularly amusing.

Our narrator is a member of a class of lively reception pupils and she is very welcoming and reassuring from the outset, for the teacher, Miss Piper, is in need of a lot of help. First she’ll struggle to remember names so needs to use a special list – the register and that’s before activities begin – activities such as ‘washing up’

and ‘make and build’. Alternatively you can opt to work outdoors and perhaps serve Miss Piper with her favourite snack.

As the day progresses she’ll definitely need help with her maths (numerical sequencing) as well as her favourite thing – really! – ‘making funny sounds’ aka phonics. No wonder she needs a ‘play’ at lunchtime while the children get their well-deserved rest from their jobs, especially as she’s likely to have to contend with some ‘difficult situations’

Come the end of the day, the children help an exhausted Miss Piper relax by listening intently to her as she reads a story.

This is vital as she’ll need lots more assistance the following day by which time, more than likely, she’ll have forgotten what she’s learned.

Bethany Walker’s carefully chosen words in combination with Sophie Kent’s scenes of young children clearly having a great time make this a highly reassuring book to share with young children, especially those transitioning from a nursery setting to a reception class.

Olly Brown, God of Hamsters / The Big Breakout

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Olly Brown, God of Hamsters
Bethany Walker , illustrated by Jack Noel
Scholastic

Olly Brown is obsessed with hamsters, so much so that when told to write down three targets for the final weeks in his year 6 class, his first is ‘Look after the class hamster at home for one weekend.’ He’s absolutely determined to do so and then by means of a spot of subterfuge he succeeds in smuggling home Tibbles; that is despite the fact that his dad is supposedly allergic to the creatures, not to mention his hang-ups about health and safety.

Surely though it was just the one hamster he took, so what are all those others doing creating havoc (and a great deal of poo) in his home.

He can’t tell his dad but he must share this news with somebody: that somebody is his best friend Stan. The trouble is Stan then starts calling him such names as ‘Master of the Hamsterverse’. It’s certainly pretty amazing that the furry beings can communicate with Olly, certainly Tibbles can.

In addition to the hamster invasion, with the end of term drawing ever closer there’s the class outing, leavers’ party and more to contend with so it’s no surprise Olly feels as though things are spiralling out of control.

How on earth and in the Hamsterverse is Olly going to extricate himself from all this? To find out you’ll need to get yourself a copy of this hilarious book. Also funny are the drawings by Jack Noel who appears to like hamsters too, if the number he’s drawn for Bethany’s story is anything to go by.

Add to KS2 class collections: what fun it would be to share this with a Y6 class in their final term.

The Big Breakout
Burhana Islam, illustrated by Farah Khandaker
Knights Of

This laugh-out-loud story concludes the trilogy featuring Yusuf and his crazy escapades.
Yusuf’s elder sister, Affa, is about to have a baby and Yusuf – who has now gained a fair bit of street-cred. – is determined to become the best ever uncle to the soon to be born addition to his extended family. Not only that but he’s currently ‘man of the house’ in charge of his amma (mum) and Nanu (gran) who needs to pay a visit to the opticians.

At school, as form captain, he’s charged with showing the ‘very special visitors’ ie Ofsted inspectors aka MI5, around his school while keeping Chompy the school chameleon out of their way. What could possibly go wrong? Errm …

I laughed my way through this wishing I’d met this British Muslim family in the previous two books and will certainly seek them out. Not only are they ideal for bringing more diversity to KS2 class collections, Yusuf, his family and friends are enormous fun to read about and Farah Khnadaker’s black and white illustrations bring out much of the madness and mayhem for which the well-intentioned Yusuf is responsible one way or another.

Do Lions Hate Haircuts?

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Do Lions Hate Haircuts?
Bethany Walker and Stephanie Laberis
Walker Books

Leonard might be leader of his pride and king of beasts but when it comes to haircuts, he’s just a big baby that hates even the prospect of a trim. Consequently he searches everywhere in his kingdom for an expert barber until eventually he meets Marvin mouse. Sceptical about the possibility of such a tiny creature being a hairdresser, Leonard finally decides to give him a chance. The result is a
tonsorial work of art that delights the lion so much that he allows Marvin to try out all manner of funky styles and soon the two become best friends.

All is serene in the kingdom until one day Leonard detects a familiar aroma drifting on the air and
his nose leads him, to horror of horrors, his best pal working his magic on another animal. Consequently Leonard decides to let his hair grow and grow, vowing never again to get it cut. But with the increasing growth of his hair comes increasing sadness as Leonard misses his friend. Wiser than their parent, Leonard’s cubs suggest finding Marvin and apologising for the jealous behaviour Leonard has shown but he refuses so to do.

Suddenly Leonard hears a protracted yet familiar sound

and off he dashes to the rescue only to trip and take a precipitous tumble. Happily however, despite some mild injuries Leonard saves Marvin and in so doing finally sees the error of his ways, apologising profusely to the mouse. That isn’t quite the end of the story though for Marvin’s response generates a clever idea in Leonard’s mind and results in an exciting new enterprise. Even that however isn’t quite the end for there’s a clever and fun final twist yet to come …

Hair-raising indeed is Bethany Walker’s comic story of an unlikely friendship with its themes of learning to say sorry and to share. Hilarious illustrations by Stephanie Laberis are full of dramatic moments and laugh-out-loud twists and turns. A story-time favourite in the making methinks.