Thursday 1 March 2012

61. Ted Gets Lost by Michael Wagner illustrated by Tom Jellett

Ted Gets Lost by Michael Wagner illustrated by Tom Jellett
Published January 2012 Penguin

From the publisher:
With only a day until Mum's birthday, finding the best present ever seems impossible. But nothing's impossible for Oliver's fully-equipped and superbly trained stuffed friend, Ted.

Finding treasure on a desert island – easy! But will Ted survive crash-landing on a whale's blowhole, swimming through a swarm of stingers and battling a blood-thirsty band of pirates? Or will the little guy end up marooned forever?



This book is quite unashamedly ridiculous...and that is why boys will love it.


Oliver has a teddy bear that comes alive when he is with Oliver, but returns to his floppy teddy bear state when his parents or his sister are around.  
The story begins with Ted and Oliver deliberating over what get mum for her birthday. When Ted receives a letter (in the form of an origami helicopter) from Papa Guru (the leader of all the world's teddies) they think their problem has been solved.  Papa tells Oliver about a treasure of jewels buried on a remote island, all there just waiting for someone to dig up.



This is the part that really made me laugh.  When Ted head out n his adventure he has to put on his adventure suit, which includes a survival belt, hands and toe-shoes (so he can run as fast as a human).  This part of the story is told as a graphic novel (comic book) style, and this is repeated at different time during the story.


Now after Ted has left on his supposedly simple treasure retrieval mission, another message from Pap Guru is delivered.  Oops, he forgot to mention the giant Silverback that is on the island guarding the treasure!  As you can imagine much chaos ensues when they meet.


This book is perfect for boys just wanting to start on longer novels, when they have moved on from Hey, Jack!, Zac Power, Boy vs Beast etc.  It's 130 pages, and as well as the comic book interludes, it also has black and white illustrations throughout, so it's not too daunting for 


Who will like this book: Boys age 7+
Read it if you like: Traction Man by Mini Grey


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