Pizza Cake by Morris Gleitzman
Puffin, 2011. ISBN: 9780143305989.
(Ages 8+) Highly recommended. Ten entertaining stories from one
of Australia's most popular children's authors. My personal favourite
is 'Saving Ms Fosdyke' a story in which teachers are paid huge salaries
and are hero worshipped by the community. To quote, 'Only the smartest,
cleverest, most brilliant, people get to be teachers.'
In some of the other stories lives are saved with a paper clip, an
Australian idiom is misunderstood and two siblings compete about
anything and everything. Gleitzman has an undoubted gift for writing
authentic and funny prose about young people and these stories all
showcase this gift. These imaginative stories would be ideal for
reading aloud.
Chris Lloyd