I didn’t realize kids still thought like this!
Reading this book has been a learning experience for me. It’s like a handbook
on how to be sneaky, a smarty-pants, and how to get out of anything.
It even
has lessons on how to suck up to parents to get your own way. But then I
realized it’s written by an adult who has got the full measure of children that
are cheeky and think they know all the answers.
This is the perfect book for reluctant readers.
Give them a book that is disgusting, is antagonistic towards adults, and
know-it-all, and they’ll not put it down. I speak from experience. Susan Berran
too, obviously speaks from experience.
The whole book is a play on well-known expressions
parents use to teach their children life skills. (But kids don’t see it that
way.) Act your age! Be responsible! How many times have I told you! You’re
older, you should know better! There are attack plans on how to respond, or
not, to all these parental repetitions, plus excuses and their uses.
This is a clever book, which will have a follow-on
to it for sure. For kids that are reading this and think they will get away
with murder when they put these ‘survival skills’ into action, a word of
advice. Mother’s have eyes in the back of their head. They’ve heard it all
before, and you can’t put much over on them.
Have lots of laughs at the gross things you love to
read about. Read the words carefully and then read it to your friends. Better
still; give it to them to read. Words are a magic elixir that enriches your life,
whatever style they come in. Just read!
Title:
The Kids’ Survival Guide
Author:
Susan Berran
Publisher:
Big Sky Publishing $14.99
Publication
Date: October 2016
Format:
Paperback
ISBN:
9781925520071
For
ages: 8-10
Type:
Junior Fiction