Sunday, August 28, 2016

Clever Trevor's stupendous inventions by Andrew Weldon

I have loved this little comic-style book, Clever Trevor's stupendous inventions, for a long time (first published 1999) so you can imagine my delight when I discovered recently that it had been reprinted.  You can see the old cover here and the new cover below.

My favourite part of this book is not the story (which is very funny and so easy to read) it is the imprint information and other pages found at the beginning and end of the book .  Sadly it seems these riotous details have been left out of the new copy. I wonder why?

The first page for example says :
Also by Andrew Weldon
Treasure Island
The cat in the hat
Alice in Wonderland
Great Expectations
Where the wild things are
The Magic Pudding
Catcher in the Rye
 and more....

At the end of the book :
What the critics say about Andrew Weldon's The Kid with the Amazing Head:
Sydney Morning Herald (not reviewed)
The Age (not reviewed)
Australian (not reviewed)
Guardian (UK) (not reviewed)
New York Review of books (not reviewed)

Here are some parts of the imprint information
Puffin Books
Penguin Books, a division of Pearson Canada
10 Alcorn Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4V 3B2
(Over the bridge on your right, next to the fish paste factory)
Penguin Books (NZ) Ltd
Crn Rosedale and Airborne Roads, Albany, Auckland, New Zealand
(Through paddock. Close the gate behind you)

All right reserved .... Keep refrigerated.

... All pigments used in this book are derived from the author's own body wastes.

Trevor is an inventor.  His teacher Mr Shmedric does not appreciate this talent.  Things finally come to head for Trevor and his friends when this despicable teacher appropriates one of Trevor's inventions, organizes a marketing campaign and rakes in tons of money.

Trevor and his friends devise a terrific plan to bankrupt their corrupt teacher and ensure Trevor can move on to a different grade (and hopefully a better teacher) next year.

Keep your eye out for the companion volume The Kid with the Amazing head.  This pair of books are perfect for reluctant readers and for anyone who likes to laugh.

You might also enjoy Problem Child by James Roy and Writing in wet cement by Andrew Daddo. Here is an interview with the author.




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