Miniwings
by Sally Sutton and Kirsten Richards
(Scholastic, $15)
There's a bunch of writers that work out the under-served literary genres on Amazon, research the most successful tropes in those genres and then write to fill the gaps. Not much fun, perhaps, but you can't argue with the sales figures. Trouble is; it can make for predictable literature, which is sort of what we find with the new Miniwings series by Kiwi author Sally Sutton and illustrated by Kirsten Richards - a series of six illustrated junior novels aimed at girls aged five to eight. The first two, Glitterwings Book Week Blunder and Whizz's Internet Whoopsie, are out now. Granny gives sisters Sophia and Clara six plastic horses which, when grown-ups aren't around, come to life and cause trouble: online purchases with mum's credit card, smearing lipstick on the walls - that kind of thing. However, the books are quite fun and the girls are sassy; the illustrations are also spot-on for the genre. JR
The World's Worst Children 2
by David Walliams
(HarperCollins, $25)
When Roald Dahl devised a procession of spoiled brats, narcissists and greedy guts for Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, he spun literary gold. David Walliams is mining that seam with his World's Worst Children series, the second of which has recently been released. On each of Walliams' books there is invariably the quote from the Telegraph or the Evening Standard: "Dahl finally has a worthy successor", and/or "The new Roald Dahl." However, on the strength of the Worst Children series, it's a hyperbolic claim. In this book, we meet the likes of Humbert the Hungry Baby (who could be a younger Augustus Gloop) and Spoiled Brad (the male version of Veruca Salt). But we also meet Harry Who Never Ever Did His Homework and Competitive Colin who are far more original characters as are their stories. Interestingly, Raj the Indian shopkeeper - who featured in both the first Worst Children book, along with a number of Walliams' others - is gone. Perhaps Walliams took heed of the criticism that he was an outdated and offensive stereotype. JR
Pottymouth and Stoopid
by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein
(Penguin Random House, $20)
US author James Patterson has followed on from his Middle School series with Pottymouth and Stupid, two friends who are given nasty nicknames at preschool and cannot shake them. To make matters worse, Pottymouth is a foster child, cared for by foul-mouthed, trailer-trash foster parents, and Stoopid's mum works three jobs because his father doesn't pay child support. It sounds like dodgy material for children nine and over (the recommended reading age for this book), but it's the Real World and dealt with lightly. The two boys are such good friends they protect each other from life's hardships. When Stoopid's dad creates a TV animated series based on the boys (without their permission), life gets worse but, in classic Revenge of the Nerds style, all comes good in the end. Fun-ish but a little bland. It appears Penguin Random House has released the US version here in New Zealand, with words like color and mom. Couldn't they have extended the UK print run and sent some of those copies our way? JR
