• click here to return to the homepage •
or 
Home > Categories > Books > Kids - General > The Terrible Thing that Happened to Barnaby Brocket review
There's nothing unusual about the Brockets. Boring, respectable and fiercely proud of it, Alistair and Eleanor Brocket turn up their noses at anyone strange or different. But from the moment Barnaby Brocket comes into the world, it's clear he's anything but normal. To the horror and shame of his parents, Barnaby appears to defy the laws of gravity - and floats.
Little Barnaby is a lonely child - after all, it's hard to make friends when you're ten feet in the air. Desperate to please his parents, he does his best to stop floating, but he just can't do it. Then, one fateful day, Barnaby's mother decides enough is enough. She never asked for a weird, abnormal, floating child. She's sick and tired of the newspapers prying and the neighbours gossiping. Barnaby has to go . . .
Betrayed, frightened and alone, Barnaby floats into the path of a very special hot air balloon. And so begins a magical journey around the world; from South America to New York, Canada to Ireland, and even a trip into space, Barnaby meets a cast of truly extraordinary new friends and realises that nothing can make you happier than just being yourself.
The Ethos Effect
The Wheel of Time : Knife of Dreams
The Mammoth Book of Golden Age Sci Fi
The Book of Rapture
The 39 Clues - 9 - Storm Warning
The 39 Clues - 11 - Vespers Rising
Dinosaur Rescue 2 - Stego-snotty-saurus
The Blood Guard: The Glass Gauntlet
Pine Valley Ponies #2: The Runaway Foal
Tiny Timmy #3: Living the Dream!
Rory the Dinosaur Needs a Christmas Tree
The Garden of Lost and Found
Pipi DanceProduct reviews...
Review by: sweetpea (Sarah)
Dated: 25th of July, 2012
One can't help but love Barnaby Brocket's tale. Born with the ability to float (or more so the inability not to) Barnaby's life was never going to be normal. Unfortunately all Barnaby's parents wanted was a "normal" child so they do very little to try to get to know Barnaby or accommodate his "floating".
This is such a delightful story that contains lots of travel and very many lessons along the way.
Barnaby (at the age of eight years when he embarks on his world tour) has the ability to make friends and make use of his friends and learns, through his rather intrepid adventures, that really nothing can make you happier than just being yourself.
This is a remarkably easy book to read and indeed a very pleasurable one. Well written in a way that will not only appeal to its intended young reader but all ages. It contains so many funny little incidences and descriptions that I found myself chuckling aloud at times. Oliver Jeffers has illustrated this book with some delightful black and white drawings that will engage the younger reader.
This book will give you a yearning to travel if you are young ( or some very fond memories if you are old ) and some very lovely value-based messages about what is normal - or not - and the value of friends, being kind, being yourself and following your dream.
I think this book would be appropriate for the young reader as soon as they have the ability to read all the words. Or you could read this a chapter a night as the content is completely fine for a younger child. I should think you could have this on any boy or girl readers book case from about the age of eight years and up for their own perusal.
A truly lovely book that I can't wait to share with my children.
Random listing from 'Books'...
However it finds you, motherhood is a whole new world. Meet Lulu La Ru - a "Super Terrific Extra Parent" (also known as a S.T.E.P.-Mum). She's funny and sassy with a heart of gold, and is embracing her new life with a sense of humour and a "can do" attitude. Come share in her hilarious adventures as she rides the crazy, up-and-down roller-coaster of family life.
The cover design is by Amanda Sutcliffe, and the rest of the illustrations are by Jeremy Dia.
All trademarks, images and copyrights on this site are owned by their respective companies.
KIWIreviews is an independent entity, part of the Knock Out News Group. This is a free public forum presenting user opinions on selected products, and as such the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinion of kiwireviews.nz and are protected under New Zealand law by the "Honest Opinion" clause of the Defamation Act of 1992. KIWIreviews accepts no liability for statements made on this site, on the premise that they have been submitted as the true and honest opinions of the individual posters. In most cases, prices and dates stated are approximate and should be considered as only guidelines.
"Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn't."
Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)
