Comedy

Niet echt onder de indruk van het verhaal met een narcissisch hoofdpersoon. Niet het soort boek dat ik de jeugd zou willen laten weten voor hun waarden en normen. :P

Tom loves to doodle in his notebook during school, play guitar in his band with his best mate, and dream up new ways to harass his teen-aged sister, Delia. This book contains his diary over one year of his (mis)adventures doing all of the above plus more.

I decided to pick up this book after reading a glowing review of it in a journal on international children's literature. The review compared it to Diary of a Wimpy Kid (a comparison that I usually find suspect though) and noted how it covers "everyday" type of kids' problems rather than the "big" problem novels (e.g., death of a loved one, childhood abuse, etc.).

Well, the comparison between this book and the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series is actually pretty spot on. The pen-and-ink drawings are similar (although I would argue there were a few too many here -- showing Tom's doodles for band logos = great use of this idea; including a pair of eyes every time Tom uses the phrases "looked at me" = unnecessarily excessive) as are the age range of the characters and the everyday family/school/friendship problems. This book has likewise spawned sequels. I could easily see a fan of the Wimpy Kid books becoming a fan of these.

While the book does concern itself mostly with small issues (like forgotten homework, having a schoolyard crush, hoping to get tickets for a concert featuring a favorite band), I find it a bit difficult to wholeheartedly recommend this book because there is zero growth in the main character. He never learns from his mistakes and continues to make the same ones over and over again. Tom also is cruel to a schoolmate for essentially no reason; it is tantamount to bullying. It would be ideal to give kids a slightly more positive role model than that. I'm not saying Tom needs to become a saint over night, but a couple of actual realizations and/or fixing of mistakes would be nice instead of him skating free once again by lucky chance.

The Brilliant World of Tom Gates is from a British author and contains a number of British slang terms, which are then defined at the back of the book. I think this book is a fantastic (and easy) way to start getting kids to think globally in their reading choices and to see how while there may be small differences between cultures, there are certainly universal feelings and situations. ( )

Middle grade, lots of fun, with lively, simple illustrations.
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I think my elementary students would love this. The boys because the main character is a boy who is a bit goofy, like they are, and doodles. My students are enamored with graphic novels and Diary of a Wimpy Kid-style genres. Girls will like it because there is a bit of nerdy elementary romance. I would probably buy it for my students. ( )