Tag Tom Vaughan

Hercules Hero to Zero

jillrbennett Leave a comment

Hercules Hero to Zero
Tom Vaughan, illustrated by David O’Connell
Scholastic

Hercules Braver returns for a third set of adventures presented in the usual diary form and taking place during the school summer holidays. With his stepdad Ken having set off on an expedition to Canada, and his pals all going for holidays abroad, Hercules is sure he and his mum are going to have a great time, but then he hears his mum say that her job as a translator is now precarious, though he’s not really sure what this means. Could it be something exciting maybe? Not so, when Mum says she’s selling the family car.: Hercules decides he must make some money to help the situation, after all it can’t be that difficult to become mega-rich.

First, aided and abetted by Hatty, Pav and Natthew, he tries a genius invention he calls VegFund, a safe for valuables but he ends up making a loss and owing money. He then ‘borrows’ the money from the sale of Mum’s car, the intention being to buy raffle tickets and win a super-duper car.

Then comes a phone call from Zooey aka Zeus; he’s furious about people writing bad things about him on the internet, Natthew in particular who is unaware of the true identity of Herc’s Dad. There follow surprise news about the raffle winner; the next money-making project (Toybay website), Mum’s announcement about the Young Explorers Camp where she’s to be a camp leader and Herc. a participant, a discovery that others besides Natthew are writing about Zeus on the internet and shock horror! Mum has been busy writing a book, one that Hercules wants to get rid of pronto.

Once at the camp Herc decides it seems ‘kind of all right’ but that’s before he and Pav cascade over a waterfall and find themselves face to face with a a prankster saying he’s been sent by Zeus. It’s Hermes and he’s looking for the self-same hard-drive that has on it both a special book and the toybay website.
All this and we’re less than halfway through August. There’s still the camp play – A Midsummer Night’s Dream, more donkey dramas than the one in the play

and lots more.
Will Mum find out that Hercules.took her £400 and what of her book? 


Loosely based on the next three labours of Hercules, this is exceedingly funny, made even more so by David O’Connell’s liberal sprinklings of illustrations.


Hercules: A Hero’s Journey( On a School Trip)

jillrbennett Leave a comment

Hercules: A Hero’s Journey( On a School Trip)
Tom Vaughan, illustrated by David O’Connell
Scholastic

Hercules Braver (aka Herc) has a secret; he’s actually a demigod. Zeus’s other offspring all have a super-skill – bravery for instance, music or healing powers. Why then does he seem just ordinary?
Now the boy is absolutely determined to prove to his actual father, whom he calls Zooey, that he too is awesome. With the first term at big school having gone badly, he hopes the second one will be an improvement. It certainly seems a possibility when he discovers a large fang near one of the school wheelie bins and with the help of Ken (his ungodly dad) discovers it belonged to a boar. With bravery high on Herc’s list of super-skills, he decides to try and catch said boar. This is something a couple of his friends, for reasons of their own, then decide to get involved with.

Operation boar is disastrous but it does result in one of them winning a competition , the prize being a school trip to Greece. Just the place for Herc to discover his super-skill especially with a visit to the Acropolis being first on their itinerary; a chance to see if he is a healer. This does not go well, so that’s one to cross off his list. Having promised his mum before leaving home that he wouldn’t consult any Greek gods, Herc is stumped. Until that is his pal Pav mentions an oracle. He has his own reasons for wanting to consult said Oracle. However, Herc lands himself in more trouble, resulting in being confronted with the well nigh impossible task of horse poo shifting and spreading; either that or he’ll be sent home. Dare he break his promise to his mum?

Further disasters unfold as the week progresses: there’s a mountain emergency, a dad disappearance and a fierce raven attack, not to mention the shenanigans between Athena, Apollo and Ares. But what of Herc’s quest to find his super-power? Let’s just say after all his trials and tribulations, there’s a bolt from the blue …

Very loosely based on the 4th, 5th and 6th Labours of Hercules, friendship and kindness are key in this often hilarious saga, presented in diary form and liberally scattered with David O’Connell’s zany drawings. Whether or not readers are Greek mythology enthusiasts, they’ll find themselves frequently laughing out loud. Highly recommended for KS2 readers.