WeirDo #4: Super Weird! product reviews

This is the second Weirdo book that we've read and after reading book #2 to my son (age 7.5) and him loving it, I was super keen to check out the latest book in the series. The books are about a boy called Weir Do and his rather unique and somewhat crazy family. This volume focuses on the families quirky pets, Fido (the dog) and Blockhead (the bird).

The book is a fairly quick read with only a few sentences on each page, short chapters and lots of black and white illustrations. It's a completely different book from what my son usually likes to read - he's all about action/fighting and bad guys - but despite the lack of action my son loves these books anyway and that says a lot. The humour really appeals to him and is perfectly suited to the target audience.

The book also touches on the issue of height as Weir isn't particularly tall for his age and often wishes that he were taller. In the end it's his height that saves the day showing that being small isn't always a bad thing.

I look forward to reading more about Weir Do and his family and I'm sure we'll be reading this book over and over again.

Having read the first and second book to my daughter, and secretly re-reading them to myself a few times, I was very keen to get my hands on the fourth book in the Weir Do series. The books are about a boy who's last name is Do and first name is Weir. All his family are oddballs including their pets. In this book, the focus is on the pets of the Do household. There is Blockhead the bird and Fi-Do the dog.

My daughters and I sat down to read this on Thursday night. We got so into it, that I ended up reading half the book! I closed the book at the half way point, realising the time and said good night. There were loud (but obviously tired) protested from both girls, who wanted me to read the whole book in one sitting. Trust me, I could have done so! But I also knew they needed their sleep.

On Friday night, we got back to the book and again we got so into the book, that I finished the whole thing. I just couldn't put it down, and the girls were really intently listening to me as I read. They clambered over me to check out the pictures, and laughed at all the funny antics of the pets and the rest of the Do family. My eldest asked me to start the book again from the beginning as well.

This book is just as good as the previous books in the series. The action is fast paced, and it's a joke a minute kinda story. They revisit old jokes about the family too, and the set ups for some of the antics are a great long game style at times. This works well for all ages. Even my three year old was enjoying this story, at the same time as my 8 year old. While the younger one probably didn't understand all of it, it still made for a great family reading time.

The illustrations are excellent and really add to the story. They are cartoonish, and help you to imagine the scenarios that the characters are going through, both in the real world and in Weir's head. because of the fast pace and the short prose, this book is a quick read but it's also highly re-readable. The cover art is also holographic sort of, and that was very well received by both of my daughters. They played with the cover a lot, when the book wasn't being read. I can't wait to buy the third book.