My Life and Other Stuff I Made Up

Fans of Griffiths, Gleitzman, and Jennings will be thrilled to have this book in their collection. Author Bancks doesn't skip a beat as he writes from his character Tom's perspective, and illustrator Gus Gordon adds his usual funny and clever drawings to it all. What a great book. A sort of Aussie tall-tale version of Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2007), Bancks' latest features stories with a high-level gross-out factor . . . A good choice for kids drawn to the upside down and out-and-out disgusting. It's a laugh-out-loud look at a boy's imagination with all of the bravado and cringe-worthy moments that readers might expect. The short, easy-to-read entries are punctuated with Tom's drawings, making this a good choice for reluctant readers. Additionally, the hybrid format, a chapter book filled with cartoon illustrations, and the humoros take on one boy's life, make it another pick for readers looking for Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Abrams, 2007) read-a-likes. These bite-sized bursts of fun are inspired by Paul Jennings, Andrew Daddo, and Andy Griffiths, the sort of stories that will keep kids enthralled and wondering if it really happened or not . . .