Review: The Only Child Club

I confess to having a vested interest in this book. I am an only child. My husband is an only child. My daughter is an only child. In fact, you could say we form an 'only child club' of our very own! And while I've never hankered for siblings, I have only-child friends who longed for an older brother or a younger sister when they were growing up. So a book about a club formed by only children so they can find out what it's like to not be an only child was one I simply had to read …

Ryan, together with friends Tasha and Oliver, establishes the club so he can learn exactly what it is they're each missing out on with their deprived 'only child' status. They decide to make a list of all the things that only children never get to do, so they can then go out and do them. But after much wracking of brains, all they come up with is 1) arguing over who gets the free toy in a box of cereal, 2) spending an entire day bickering about nothing, and 3) working all day on something only have to someone ruin it. Seems they've not been missing out on much at all!

Award-winning author Anne Fine has produced another exquisitely observed book about human nature. After all, we all tend to want what we don't have but then usually discover we're quite happy with what we've got after all — once we experience a taste of life 'on the other side'! And I confess that this will be the first book I take down from the shelf should my daughter ever say, 'Mum, I wish I had a brother/sister …'

Title: The Only Child Club
Author: Anne Fine
Illustrator: Arthur Robins
Publisher: Walker Books, $21.95 RRP
Publication Date: October 2013
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781406348064
For ages: 5+
Type: Junior Fiction