Clever Trevor’s Stupendous Inventions

Clever Trevor’s Stupendous Inventions by Andrew Weldon (Puffin Books) PB RRP $9.99

ISBN 9780143309154

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

Weldon has both written and illustrated this highly imaginative book which is sure to amuse and thoroughly engage readers from 7+ years, especially children who are usually reluctant readers. There is not much written text on each page, but always there are black and white line illustrations in a cartoon style.

Clever Trevor, the story goes, ‘may even have been the most smartest kid in the whole    WORLD.’ Trevor (real name Stuart but he’s called Trevor because it rhymes with clever) is always inventing things, such as inflatable bathers, ceiling fan fun rides and (invented when he was only four), a bicky picker-upper. Despite these strokes of genius, the boy fails at school. His teacher, Mr Shmedic is not a happy man...and Trevor is always on his wrong side. Problems start when the teacher starts confiscating – and selling – Trevor’s brilliant inventions.

Of course this is where the real fun of the book kicks in – Trevor and his friends are determined to thwart Schmedic. They do this (eventually) with the help of a Stinkometer (which, as one child says ‘smells worse than grandpa.’) No doubt Trevor is super clever!

This is a fun book which will have children laughing and re-reading the written and pictorial text over and over.

The Kid with the Amazing Head

The Kid with the Amazing Head by Andrew Weldon (Puffin Books) PB RRP $9.99

ISBN 9780143309161

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

Andrew Weldon is a clever and highly imaginative writer and illustrator, that’s for sure. One wonders how his brain works! Very strangely, it seems, in this quirky and engaging book for children aged 7+ years.

The kid with the amazing head is Steven who awakes one day to find his head can do whatever he wants! He can make parts of it expand (such as the ears and cheeks), turn it into something else (a hand, a balloon, a sunflower) and he can make it look like anyone else, even famous people. Getting ready for school, he can create dozens of hair styles (with the head on his head, and also with beards and moustaches) as shown in one full page of hair style illustrations.

Most people are unimpressed at these tricks, but Clever Trevor (a character in another of Weldon’s Puffin books) and his friend naughty Paul work out ways in which Steven can use his unnatural talent – such as robbing a bank. (With Steven able to disguise himself, this lends itself to all kinds of possibilities!) Another idea is to find the missing heiress Claire Blairey.

No more spoilers – this is a book that needs lots of attention, not because it is full of fun and energy, but because the illustrations demand lots of pouring over. Buy it for a child you care about, and especially buy it for the kid you know who normally wouldn’t want to read. Chances are he will love this book!