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I’m Dougal Trump … And It’s Not My Fault! By Dougal Trump and Jackie Marchant
The Blurb On The Back:
From the desk of Dougal Trump:
I, Dougal Trump, am dead.
OK, I’m not actually dead. But if I’m not careful I soon will be.
(1) Because the creature* in our shed will EAT me.
(2) Because my family and friends will KILL me. Despite the fact that I am completely innocent of all the things they say I’ve done.
NONE OF IT IS MY FAULT!
Yours,
Dougal Trump.
* I don’t know what it is, but it has teeth. Big ones.
Everyone wants Dougal Trump dead. His mum, dad and sister constantly threaten to kill him over things that aren’t his fault. He can’t help it if things go wrong all the time. It just happens.
When a kick-about with the family dog leads Dougal to the shed at the bottom of his garden, he finds a note left on the door. The note says that there’s a creature in the shed, which will be collected in 3 days. Dougal has to give it fruit and keep it quiet because if anyone finds out about it, then Dougal will really be DEAD!
Although Dougal does his best to stop people from finding out about the creature, it isn’t easy because once the creature wakes up, it decides to explore the neighbourhood and now the neighbours’ pets are going missing. And Dougal has other problems too. A new boy, Stan, has moved next door and seems to get Dougal into more trouble than ever before – so much so that even his best friends Claude and George don’t want to hang out with him. Dougal has to come up with a plan to fix things, even though everything that’s happening is totally not his fault …
Jackie Marchant’s debut novel for readers aged 9+ tells Dougal Trump’s own story to hilarious effect and is bound to be a big hit with boy readers.
Dougal’s a really endearing character, utterly bemused as to why people are so annoyed by him and terrified by the monster in his shed. I enjoyed his friendship with Claude and George and how they equally cluelessly try to help keep the monster a secret. Marchant does particularly well in showing how Stan’s arrival disrupts that friendship and the way Dougal can’t figure out whether Stan is his friend or not.
I loved Dougal’s exchanges with his older sister, Sybill (who he constantly refers to as Sibble), who could quite cheerfully kill him for real and the scene where Dougal writes his will, which is then helpfully edited by his friends and family to stake claim to his possessions had me in stitches. The illustrations by Mike Lowery deserve special mention as they really add to the story and I loved the Evil Shed.
All in all, it’s a really funny read and I’d definitely recommend it to parents looking for presents for boy readers this Christmas.
The Verdict:
Jackie Marchant’s debut novel for readers aged 9+ tells Dougal Trump’s own story to hilarious effect and I totally believed in his relationships with his best friends and his long-suffering family. The illustrations by Mike Lowery deserve special mention as they really add to the story and I think this would be a perfect gift idea for boy readers this Christmas.
From the desk of Dougal Trump:
I, Dougal Trump, am dead.
OK, I’m not actually dead. But if I’m not careful I soon will be.
(1) Because the creature* in our shed will EAT me.
(2) Because my family and friends will KILL me. Despite the fact that I am completely innocent of all the things they say I’ve done.
NONE OF IT IS MY FAULT!
Yours,
Dougal Trump.
* I don’t know what it is, but it has teeth. Big ones.
Everyone wants Dougal Trump dead. His mum, dad and sister constantly threaten to kill him over things that aren’t his fault. He can’t help it if things go wrong all the time. It just happens.
When a kick-about with the family dog leads Dougal to the shed at the bottom of his garden, he finds a note left on the door. The note says that there’s a creature in the shed, which will be collected in 3 days. Dougal has to give it fruit and keep it quiet because if anyone finds out about it, then Dougal will really be DEAD!
Although Dougal does his best to stop people from finding out about the creature, it isn’t easy because once the creature wakes up, it decides to explore the neighbourhood and now the neighbours’ pets are going missing. And Dougal has other problems too. A new boy, Stan, has moved next door and seems to get Dougal into more trouble than ever before – so much so that even his best friends Claude and George don’t want to hang out with him. Dougal has to come up with a plan to fix things, even though everything that’s happening is totally not his fault …
Jackie Marchant’s debut novel for readers aged 9+ tells Dougal Trump’s own story to hilarious effect and is bound to be a big hit with boy readers.
Dougal’s a really endearing character, utterly bemused as to why people are so annoyed by him and terrified by the monster in his shed. I enjoyed his friendship with Claude and George and how they equally cluelessly try to help keep the monster a secret. Marchant does particularly well in showing how Stan’s arrival disrupts that friendship and the way Dougal can’t figure out whether Stan is his friend or not.
I loved Dougal’s exchanges with his older sister, Sybill (who he constantly refers to as Sibble), who could quite cheerfully kill him for real and the scene where Dougal writes his will, which is then helpfully edited by his friends and family to stake claim to his possessions had me in stitches. The illustrations by Mike Lowery deserve special mention as they really add to the story and I loved the Evil Shed.
All in all, it’s a really funny read and I’d definitely recommend it to parents looking for presents for boy readers this Christmas.
The Verdict:
Jackie Marchant’s debut novel for readers aged 9+ tells Dougal Trump’s own story to hilarious effect and I totally believed in his relationships with his best friends and his long-suffering family. The illustrations by Mike Lowery deserve special mention as they really add to the story and I think this would be a perfect gift idea for boy readers this Christmas.