About Children’s Book Reviews @ BeTwinned
The Children Who Smelled a Rat by Allan Ahlberg, illustrated by Katharine McEwen
Photo from Amazon.com
Review by Sandra Horning
The Children Who Smelled a Rat is the fourth book in the Gaskitt series by Allan Ahlberg.
The Gaskitt family, Mr. and Mrs. Gaskitt, the twins Gus and Gloria, the baby Gary and the cat Horace, each have their own zany adventure within the book.
First, Mrs. Gaskitt finds a mysterious package in the back of her taxi, next Mr. Gaskitt loses the baby, then Horace meets a bird. Finally, Mrs. Fritter, the twins’ favorite teacher, turns into a crazy lady.
Each chapter zig-zags in and out of each adventure. The twins, Gloria and Gus, are determined to solve the mystery of their teacher gone crazy. Some triplets make a surprising appearance near the end of the story!
My seven-year old-son is having a great time slowly reading each chapter – an excellent book for children just starting to read chapter books. My son was especially fond of chapters 2 ½ and 2 ¾, each of which is only a half page long.
The spreads have lots of interesting little pictures and additional cartoon text to keep young readers interested. My three year old listens in too. Although he misses some of the humor, he gets more than would be expected, and he thoroughly enjoys studying the bright watercolor and crayon illustrations. And the crazy, twisting story easily brings on the laughs.
The book includes many examples of literary devices: chapters, a glossary, a table of contents and even footnotes referencing previous Gaskitt adventures. It’s a great introduction to reading and writing.
The Children Who Smelled a Rat is a fun read with lots of twists to keep children hooked, as well as guessing and laughing, Of course, we’ll now have to find and read the previous Gaskitt stories!
Ages 5-9