Triple the Laughs by Danny Katz

Ill. by Mitch Vane. Little Lunch series. Black Dog Books, 2017. ISBN 9781921977398
(Age: 7-9) Recommended. Themes: School life, Friends, Humorous stories. Little Lunch is an extremely popular ABC Children's television series based on the successful books written by Danny Katz and illustrated by Mitch Vane. Each humorous story focuses on the fifteen minutes of fun, friendship and drama that occurs at Little Lunch each school day. Andy Katz lifts the lid on the humorous, the silly and the real issues and problems that occur with Mrs Gonsha's Year 5 students.
Atticus who is slightly nerdy, smart and always hungry, throws away his playlunch every day. His mum and dad are away for a week in New Zealand and his Ya-Ya has moved in to look after her grandson. Each day he lifts the lid on his blue lunchbox and there are weird smelly, small brown wrapped things inside. He becomes very hungry and angry without his playlunch. On Friday, Atticus leaves his lunch at home and Ya-Ya kindly brings it to school along with plates of the smelly food for everyone to share.
Imagine a special 'Dress Up As What You Want To Be When You Grow Up' day at school! Atticus comes in a chef's outfit, Debra-Jo borrows her mum's surgical scrubs, while Battie wears his superhero outfit. His Stretcho costume with its long rubber arms helps him do good superhero deeds for his friends; unfortunately, they all backfire on him.
In the third story, Melanie is suddenly germblocked after a visit to the girl's toilets, she really did wash her hands. She hasn't done anything wrong and feels upset, as she is banished to sit on the Junior School steps. The most surprising culprit finally owns up; he snuck into the girls' toilets and did not wash up.
Packed with Mitch Vane's funny cartoons and photos of the television series cast, these short stories are just right for young readers. Students in Years 2-4 will enjoy this series read aloud to them. They can engage in creative and critical thinking as they compare the character depiction and plot development in both written and screen format.
Rhyllis Bignell