Freddy Tangles: Legend or Loser: Book One (Jack Brand, illus by Tom Jellett, A&U)

There are plenty of books competing for the coveted position of being the next ‘Tom Gates’ or ‘Wimpy Kid’, and claiming to be ideally suited to reluctant boy readers. Debut author Jack Brand ticks a few boxes with Freddy Tangles: Legend or Loser, wielding particularly successful uses of fart and bum humour that will have cheeky seven- to 10-year-olds laughing out loud. The main character, Freddy, is robust, prone to mishaps and certainly not perfect, although he has his heart in the right place. His best friends offer a mix of humour and intelligence (although I was concerned that one of the friends veered into a Russian stereotype without any context), and two talking ants provide running commentary, which is a smart device. Freddy Tangles is tangled by name and by nature, bouncing from one incident to the next for too long, until the main storyline shows through. This stream-of-consciousness approach lacks the necessary signposts provided by Tom Gates’ illustrative material and Wimpy Kid’s diary format. Freddy Tangles has potential and Brand gets primary school humour, but for less confident readers this needed a little more direction.

Emily Gale is a children’s book and YA specialist at Readings

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

Category: Reviews