Code Name Bananas is the latest David Walliams book to hit our shelves, promising an action adventure full of hilarious moments and unforgettable characters for 2020. Posh zoo directors, freaky vets, terrible twins and playful animals – all this and more feature in this fast-paced tale. The reader will find themselves marvelling at the various creatures that appear in the novel and relating in some form to the grief felt by Eric. As well as his Children’s fiction, David has also published four number one bestselling picture books, his latest, The Bear Who went Boo! was published in November 2015 and has had total sales of over 85,000 to date. The Queen’s Orang-utan, David’s third picture book was written exclusively for Comic Relief with David giving all of his proceeds from the book to the charity. Grandma is “deaf” so, this being the 1940s during World War II, she uses a hearing trumpet. Cue the usual jokes about hearing impaired people misunderstanding others.

Code Name Bananas - National Geographic Kids

Added to all this, David’s books have achieved unprecedented critical acclaim: Awful Auntie, Ratburger and Demon Dentist won the National Book Awards Children’s Book of the Year and in France David was awarded the popular Tamtam for Mr Stink and the prestigious Le Prix Du Livre De La Jeunesse for Ratburger, so it comes as no surprise that countless broadsheet reviewers have compared David to his all-time hero, Roald Dahl.

Overall, I couldn’t help but think that Walliams sees disability as comical without depth. I give Walliams 2 stars for representation of disability. It’s that high because Sid is a lovely man who joins Eric on his journey. And no animal, no matter how physically challenged, is euthanized in this story. However, I urge all authors to lift their game and represent disability instead of using it to service ableist humor. Illustrations I personally found some font choices harder to read than others, especially serif fonts with “shaking” special effects. However, I think I successfully read the entire text. Bonus materiaal sluit in: ‘n dramatis personae; feitelike notas oor Brittanje in die oorlogtyd; kaarte, en fiktiewe gidse tot dierebollie en grade van stink – met kool onderaan die lys en bobbejaanboude heel bo. Die formaat verseker ook addisionele vermaak: die roman word aan die leser deurgegee as ‘n gedeklassifiseerde geheime oorlogsdokument: ‘Hierdie storie sal vir tagtig jaar in die Britse Intelligensiediens se kluis bly, soos baie nasionale geheime, en dan, eers dan, sal die lêer uiteindelik openbaar gemaak word.’ (456) en ‘Die lêer is nou pas openbaar gemaak en…dit is die boek wat jy nou net gelees het.’ (475)

CODE NAME BANANAS! - National Geographic Kids CODE NAME BANANAS! - National Geographic Kids

During a crazy war between Britain andNazi Germany, eleven-year-old Eric decides he will spend his days at the place he loves most... London Zoo. But there is one animal in particular that Eric adores most - Gertude the Gorilla! Withbombs falling down overLondon, Eric must rescue Gertrude before it's too late. They've felt phoned-in and rushed-out for a while now. I was pleased to see another period piece here (after The Ice Monster), especially as my eldest is studying World War II at school. And there are some great war details included, so that was a positive. Walliams' books] are brilliantly, beautifully and seemingly effortlessly written - Mr Dahl finally has a I loved that this book was set during World War 2. This setting added a great opportunity for a little bit of history to be sprinkled into the story. The history that was featured in this story was interesting and made for some truly funny scenes. Then there are the animals. Sid collects disabled animals. This menagerie serves to humanize Sid more and to provide – you guessed it – comic relief. Not to mention that they all live in his kitchen. And Sid is a recluse – he never ever has visitors, not even family – because of his menagerie. Walliams’s use of disability as comedyFluent readers without reading difficulties will find this creative combination of textual variations and pictures immersive. Struggling readers may find this difficult. The ending This is the story of a spy mission with the code name bananas. It all begins with Eric, who loves animals. So much so that his best friend is Gertrude the Gorilla. He teaches Gertrude to blow raspberries. So Grandma yells at him after beating people with her hearing trumpet. Then she takes him home. Eleven-year-old Eric spends his days at the place that makes him most happy: London Zoo. And there's one animal in particular he loves: Gertrude the gorilla. Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical Moments Britain is at war with Germany. As bombs rain down on the city, orphan boy Eric forms an extraordinary friendship with a remarkable gorilla: Gertrude. Eric spends his days at the place that makes him most happy: London Zoo. But when the zoo is no longer safe Eric must go on an epic adventure to rescue Gertrude. Together with his Uncle Sid, a keeper at the zoo, the three go on the run. But while hiding out at the seaside they uncover a top-secret plot . . . escape the clutches of evil villains . . . and in the end they save the day!