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goldenbooksgirl's review
4.0
In their lovely MG debut, Katie and Kevin Tsang tell the story of Sam Wu, who is scared of quite a lot of things, but desperately trying to prove he`s brave after a mortifying incident that cannot be mentioned takes place on the school trip. Sam, along with best friends Zoe and Bernard, sets out to prove he isn`t afraid of ghosts by getting rid of the one he thinks is in house. Sam is such an adorable character, and I feel like everyone, no matter their age, will be able to relate to him in some way and empathise with the way he feels about his fears and the way that the school bully Ralph makes fun of him after The Incident. I also thought the humour was really sweet and subtle; it made me smile a lot, and the illustrations by Nathan Reed added even more humour. The secondary characters are also delightful, and I particularly loved Sam`s clever friend Bernard and pets Butterbutt and Fang. It was lovely to see the culture of Sam`s Chinese-American family as such a prominent feature, and I felt like the resolution of what the ghost really was was fantastic, and so clever as when I thought about it there had been little hints dropped. I`m so excited to read Sam`s 2nd adventure, in which he faces his fear of sharks, soon! 4.5/5
kellysrambles's review
5.0
Sam Wu and friends are about to become a HUGE hit with young readers across the UK (and hopefully the world!).
Sam Wu is NOT Afraid of Ghosts is an absolute blast (excuse the pun) from beginning to end. Filled to the brim with gorgeous illustrations from the super talented Nathan Reed, this witty children’s book will entertain people of all ages and Sam will surely give our younger readers a new hero to aspire to. I couldn’t stop laughing from the very beginning of this book and loved the adventure that Sam, Zoe and Bernard find themselves on. It is so reminiscent of childhood and all of our childhood fears that even I as a *cough* 27 year old *cough* couldn’t help but relate to Sam!
Sam and his family are Chinese and I loved how this was threaded throughout the book. I was practically drooling at the idea of some of the food but it was also hilarious seeing how Zoe and Bernard reacted to tea time at Sam’s house – in a way that only children could! Sam’s sister Lucy is a badass and I loved Butterbutt the cat (what an excellent name!) Talking of excellent names: Ralph Philip Zinkerman the Third is another one that got me laughing!
The layout of the book was excellent and a nice way to introduce young readers to footnotes (especially funny ones) and each page was a true delight to see and read! There is lots of adventure, a pet snake called Fang, a ghost fighting trio of fabulous friends and a heck of a lot of laughter along the way. I can’t wait to introduce Sam Wu to the young readers in my life and I’m already excited to see what happens next for Sam and his friends!
Ps. Sam is definitely NOT afraid of ghosts.
Huge, huge, huge thank you to Siobhan at Egmont for sending me a copy of the book in exchange of a fair and honest review.
Sam Wu is NOT Afraid of Ghosts is an absolute blast (excuse the pun) from beginning to end. Filled to the brim with gorgeous illustrations from the super talented Nathan Reed, this witty children’s book will entertain people of all ages and Sam will surely give our younger readers a new hero to aspire to. I couldn’t stop laughing from the very beginning of this book and loved the adventure that Sam, Zoe and Bernard find themselves on. It is so reminiscent of childhood and all of our childhood fears that even I as a *cough* 27 year old *cough* couldn’t help but relate to Sam!
Sam and his family are Chinese and I loved how this was threaded throughout the book. I was practically drooling at the idea of some of the food but it was also hilarious seeing how Zoe and Bernard reacted to tea time at Sam’s house – in a way that only children could! Sam’s sister Lucy is a badass and I loved Butterbutt the cat (what an excellent name!) Talking of excellent names: Ralph Philip Zinkerman the Third is another one that got me laughing!
The layout of the book was excellent and a nice way to introduce young readers to footnotes (especially funny ones) and each page was a true delight to see and read! There is lots of adventure, a pet snake called Fang, a ghost fighting trio of fabulous friends and a heck of a lot of laughter along the way. I can’t wait to introduce Sam Wu to the young readers in my life and I’m already excited to see what happens next for Sam and his friends!
Ps. Sam is definitely NOT afraid of ghosts.
Huge, huge, huge thank you to Siobhan at Egmont for sending me a copy of the book in exchange of a fair and honest review.
riotbatgrrl's review
4.0
It reads a little bit like an off-brand Alvin Ho, but I don't think that's a bad thing. Most kids in the target audience don't think like that about the books they love; if they liked it, they tend to want to read something very similar. And it's not like there can only be one series for younger middle-grade readers about an Asian American boy who is scared of things! (Plus Alvin very clearly has anxiety, and Sam Wu does not.) I liked Alvin Ho better, but this was still an enjoyable read that made me giggle sometimes, and I'm pretty sure I actually laughed once. I wasn't crazy about the page design choices, and Sam made some very questionable decisions in regards to pet ownership (DON'T LET YOUR LITTLE SISTER PICK UP YOUR SNAKE BY PULLING HIS TAIL, SAM) that never got called out, so I can't go above a 3.5 here. Also the idea for the page design was really solid; I think kids will find it engaging and fun, I just thought it was too much and made the text hard to follow occasionally.
leahmichelle_13's review
5.0
What an adorable read! Definitely aimed at kids aged 7-10 but amazing nonetheless. I loved Sam Wu, I loved how the illustrations and different sized fonts and stuff was similar to the Tom Gates books. This was a fab start to this new series and I can’t wait for Sam Wu Is Not Afraid Of Sharks.
indiebookshops's review
4.0
The first in the Sam Wu series, and I of course have read number two before reading this one, but it takes nothing away from it.
Sam feels that he has to prove he isn’t Scaredy-Cat Sam after an incident at the Space Museum and goes out of his way to do this, along the way he gets a new pet and decides to defeat the Ghost King to show people he isn’t scared of anything.
A wonderfully illustrated story of friendship, relationships, bullying, and perseverance in the face of what really does scare you.
This is a fast-paced adventure story that I didn’t want to put down and laughed out loud at a few of the scenes, but the biggest seal of approval is that my nephew loves Sam and Fang.
Looking forward to book three in the series.
Sam feels that he has to prove he isn’t Scaredy-Cat Sam after an incident at the Space Museum and goes out of his way to do this, along the way he gets a new pet and decides to defeat the Ghost King to show people he isn’t scared of anything.
A wonderfully illustrated story of friendship, relationships, bullying, and perseverance in the face of what really does scare you.
This is a fast-paced adventure story that I didn’t want to put down and laughed out loud at a few of the scenes, but the biggest seal of approval is that my nephew loves Sam and Fang.
Looking forward to book three in the series.
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