Supertato by Sue Hendra

Sue Hendra's Supertato is a quirky take on the standard superhero tale. It's set in the vegetable section of a supermarket, not a child's first choice of where to find a hero of any sort, usually. The hero of this story is a rather rotund potato! Nevertheless, he has all the characteristics you would expect of a superhero. The evil villain is the smallest character in the book, the pea. 

This is a pacey read. The style of the writing includes a number of authorial questions to engage readers. The simple plot moves swiftly along through the use of dialogue which will appeal to young children. The story is delightfully silly. The narrative coupled with the dialogue has all the features you would expect in a comic superhero tale: slapstick, good versus evil, mild peril and the inevitable happy ending.

Alliteration is used for comic effect to describe how Supertato stealthily creeps up on the mischievous pea. 'Crept through the cakes'.....'checked the cheese'. There is also an element of comic strip writing with features such as 'kerpow!' Children will love rewriting this as a comic strip using an application such as comic life. This could be used to emphasise the words within the speech marks or develop the use of temporal connectives (adverbials).

Other writing activities might include wanted posters, newspaper reports or play scripts.

The illustrations help the story along enormously. Supertato is depicted as a typical superhero, with his super belt around his rather plump middle, his bandit-like eye mask and his superhero red cape. Evil pea's eyes look demonic at the beginning of the story. The facial features of all the characters are full of emotion, ranging from horror, surprise, shock to the twinkle of Supertato's teeth to illustrate just how good he is. The pictures are bright, with lots of primary colours and plenty to see on each page. This would be really fun 'read aloud' to a group of children in foundation stage or Key Stage 1. It would also make an ideal book to read as part of any project on Superheroes or healthy eating.

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Date of Publication: 2014

ISBN: 978-0-85707-447-8

Oliver Moon and the Potion Commotion by Sue Mongredien

Oliver Moon is the hardest working wizard at Magic School and now he's been nominated for Young Wizard of the Year. But at home, he has to cope with his seriously embarrassing unmagical parents. What will the judges say when they find out that the Moons use a microwave instead of a cauldron and a car instead of a broomstick?

Schools and magic are a winning combination, and Oliver Moon's adventures bring the genre to younger readers who are just gaining their reading independence and developing reading stamina. It is in the form of a chapter book and is ideal for year 2/3 class libraries and would also make an ideal text for guided reading. 

Oliver Moon is the younger reader's 'Harry Potter'. Children will revel in the descriptions of the disgusting living conditions and diet required of all the best wizards, and in the distinctive illustrations! Oliver Moon and the Potion Commotion is the first in a series of books. The story itself has the perfect combination of tension and humour which will keep children wanting to read. The chapters are short enough for those who have just attained reading independence and as such the series would be 'the next step' from books which are anthologies of short stories such as 'Horrid Henry' and 'Dertie Bertie'

Sue Mongredien's writing style provides an excellent model for alliteration. She not only makes use of alliteration for the use of characters' names but also regularly in noun phrases such as 'scorpion stew', 'sausage sandwich' and 'pig-trotter pies'. She also makes use of a wide range of alternative vocabulary for 'said'. In the first chapter you will come across 'pointed out', 'echoed', 'slurped', 'reminded', 'squeaked', 'announced', 'yelped', 'cried' and 'begged'.

The book's underlying message is a valuable one – that we need to work together to achieve, and when we do, it brings satisfaction for all.

Publisher: Usborne

ISBN: 978-0-7460-7306-3