Children's Writer, Book Reviewer, Teacher, Artist
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Yay! It's my turn on the blog tour for Chrissie Sains' brilliantly fun romp 'An Alien in the Jam Factory'. Below is my review. I'm also delighted that Chrissie Sains, as a fellow Golden Egg, has also kindly written about her inspirations for the book which you can read here.
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I adored this book, devouring it like the most delicious jam. It's funny, charming, inventive and jam-packed with marvellous characters, small and big and orange.
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Scooter is a gifted young inventor at McLay's, one of the world's best jam manufacturers. He doesn't have any real friends or pets because everything must be kept Top Secret and, well, clean. So when an alien called Fizzbee crash lands into the factory everything changes. But there's a problem. Doughnut competitor, Daffy Dodgy, is ready to break in and steal Scooter's book of inventions...
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This is such a fun, lighthearted and hilarious children's book, perfectly illustrated by Jenny Taylor. In actual fact, the pairing of Sains and Taylor is the ideal filling, like jam and cream in a scone. Sains & Taylor even sounds like a proper good jam company! It's a super book to read aloud or for reluctant readers. It's also pacy, full of jokes and food (some yummy sounding and some gross) with an alien, an inventor, a roller-coaster, a Brussel-Sprout eating guinea pig and even a poor snail called Gary - what more could you want?! What I especially liked was the alternating perspectives of Scooter and the antagonist (Daffy Dodgy). It reminded me of a classic Wallace and Gromit, like the Wrong Trousers, where you see what the evil penguin is up to and you know it's going to reach an action-packed mad finale. I can really see 'An Alien in the Jam Factory' being animated by Aardman Studios - it's that kind of fun, comforting story you want to return to.
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Well done Chrissie Sains and Jenny Taylor - this has put a big smile on my face. Now to grab some jam and gorge...
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Thank you to Walker Books for the copy to review, and for the yummy jam too!
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