David Williams’ The world’s worst children| Book review by Alvira,9, KL
Who are the world’s worst children? We aren’t naming names, we promise! That’s the title of the book written by David Williams that 9-year-old Alvira from Kuala Lumpur reviews for us.
The World’s Worst Children’ is a popular fiction book written by the English writer, David Williams and illustrated by Tony Ross. It is an ongoing series featuring 3 volumes, each one presenting 10 of the ‘World’s Worst Children’.
In the first volume, there are stories of boys with nits, girls who wouldn’t stop dancing and of a boy who was never, ever wrong as well as a grubby girl who lived in a dump, a dribbling fool and a boy who never laughed.
The book begins with a two-page introduction by Raj, an imaginary character who is jealous for just being asked to contribute an introduction. At the end of every chapter, he quotes an unpleasant comment on the storyline.
Each chapter is humorous, sometimes involving rude humour. Every page has doodles alongside the text, floating here and there. Here, the book has been written in a childish, informal context.
My favourite chapter features Brian Wong, a boy who claimed to be “never, ever wrong” (Not true!). It began on Monday morning, during mathematics class. His teacher was repeating how no one could count to infinite. Wong, however, wanted to prove that he could count to infinity. So, he did . . . He spent all his life counting and counting and counting. Until the day he laid on his deathbed, he still counted. A friend came to visit, told him to stop and enjoy the last moments of life. But he still counted. He died with a smile on his face. I like it because the way it expresses Wong’s selfish character is funny, alongside everything else.
I would recommend this to children 10 and above, due to the slightly rude humour and obscure vocabulary. I give it 5 stars because it’s an amazing book and one of my favourites.
