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katykelly's review against another edition
5.0
Third winner on the trot (or should that be trotter?) from David Baddiel.
He manages to tap into the 'wish fulfilment' genre brilliantly each time, from changing your parents, to having a controller that works on people, and now - turning into another animal!
Malcolm's family are NUTS about animals. Malcolm.... isn't. So when he gets the worst birthday presents ever (have a guess) and then ends up on a school trip to a FARM, he never thought it could get worse. But then he wakes up as an animal himself!!! Argh!
Over the course of the three-day trip, poor Malcolm inhabits various farm animal bodies, learning a little about their lives and abilities along the way, and gradually realising who it is he wants to be. And where. But can he get there?
A light and amusing read, Baddiel gives us an imaginative look at how cats climb and tortoises talk to each other - how Malcolm communicates cross-species is also cleverly done.
The path of the story is an obvious one, but I loved how Baddiel takes Malcolm through various incarnations and lives, and gets the whole farm involved in the final push to get him where he needs to end up.
Very funny, from the short-sighted teacher to the poor tortoises running after everyone else in mad dashes.
A good message at the end, and an easy read for ages 9 and above.
He manages to tap into the 'wish fulfilment' genre brilliantly each time, from changing your parents, to having a controller that works on people, and now - turning into another animal!
Malcolm's family are NUTS about animals. Malcolm.... isn't. So when he gets the worst birthday presents ever (have a guess) and then ends up on a school trip to a FARM, he never thought it could get worse. But then he wakes up as an animal himself!!! Argh!
Over the course of the three-day trip, poor Malcolm inhabits various farm animal bodies, learning a little about their lives and abilities along the way, and gradually realising who it is he wants to be. And where. But can he get there?
A light and amusing read, Baddiel gives us an imaginative look at how cats climb and tortoises talk to each other - how Malcolm communicates cross-species is also cleverly done.
The path of the story is an obvious one, but I loved how Baddiel takes Malcolm through various incarnations and lives, and gets the whole farm involved in the final push to get him where he needs to end up.
Very funny, from the short-sighted teacher to the poor tortoises running after everyone else in mad dashes.
A good message at the end, and an easy read for ages 9 and above.
booklover11's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I loved this book. It's really funny. It's about a boy who hates animals but his family loves them. On a school trip to the farm, he speaks to a goat and he starts turning into new animals all the time. He soon realises how cool animals after after being a number of different animals.
zoe_x0x0's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
jrollings's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
xsparky126x's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
booksandbeautifulthings18's review against another edition
5.0
Malcolm doesn’t like animals, which is a problem because his family love them! He is excited to learn about a school trip, that is until he realises that it’s to a farm...
I read this to my son and wow we both loved it so much! It was very well written and hilarious in parts and we really wanted to know what was going to happen next. David Baddiel is definitely one of our new favourite authors
I read this to my son and wow we both loved it so much! It was very well written and hilarious in parts and we really wanted to know what was going to happen next. David Baddiel is definitely one of our new favourite authors
ronn1eee's review against another edition
2.0
*SPOILER ALERT* I was really excited to get this book but was quite unimpressed during and after reading it because of the plot and how boring I found it. Malcolm basically turns into multiple different animals and can only speak their language. I think the reason why I disliked it was because it's more of a 7-9-year-old's book (maybe a bit younger too) and I read it at 11 (12 now).
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