The Abominators are “the naughtiest children in Year 5” of Grimely East Primary School. Cecil Trumpington-Potts is a new boy at their school, his father having fallen from riches to poverty and having to send his posh speaking son (“panty wanty woos”) to school for the first time in his life. Cecil loves this and looks forward to finally making friends afor the first time in his life, and the people he wants to be friends with are the Abominators.
Trouble is they don’t want to be friends with him because he is “a la-di-da lunatic” who wears “girly pants" and talks like a baby and is weird. Because of this, and because Cecil wants so badly to be part of their gang, they set him three impossible tasks for him to complete, which they mask as initiation tasks, and if he completes all three he can be part of their gang. The first task is to replace the school flag with the head-teacher’s pants.
Through the book there is also a rivalry between Grimely East and Lofty Heights Primary who have all the smart, well-behaved children in the town, and who win all the trophies such as the shiniest shoe trophy, which makes Grimely’s head-teacher in particular jealous of them, and their head boasting all the time.
The story also contains a few black and white pictures along the way which add to the story.
Anyways Cecil has a distinctive voice, even if the four Abominators themselves are somewhat interchangeable, with his posh-ness, his positive attitude and his naivety. He makes this short story a most enjoyable ride, which made my daughter laugh in places, and me too. Good fun throughout. It would be suitable for young readers too, although there are some big words in there.
Recommended.
I got this book through Amazon Vine UK. It is listed HERE.
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