Kids into books: Just Crazy

Author: Andy Griffiths

Illustrator: Terry Denton

Publisher: Macmillan, $13.95

Age Group: 9-11 years


I found this pair of glasses on the way home from school. Little gold-rimmed spectacles. Just lying in the middle of the footpath.

I would have left them there except I'd read a survey in the paper saying that most people thought people who wore glasses were more intelligent than people who didn't wear them. So I had this idea that maybe I could make my teachers think that I'm smarter than I really am and they would give me better marks. So I picked up the glasses and put them on, but the lenses made everything sort of wonky and out of focus. The last thing I heard before I fell was "Look out!"

I ended up at the bottom of a roadworkers' trench.

But did I get a broken leg?

No.

A broken arm?

No.

Massive head injuries, complex fractures, amnesia and a nasty bruise?

No.

The only thing that broke were the glasses and the only injury I got was a cut under my left eye.

*Tomorrow: See Kids into books in the Weekend Herald's TimeOut section.