Tony Wilson (1)

This story puts a spin on the original Princess and the Pea fairytale. A prince is looking for a wife, but he wants the opposite of what his brother has or what his brother's wife is like. The prince wants a wife who likes to go camping and who can play hockey. Instead of putting a pea under a stack of mattresses, the prince decides to put a packet of frozen peas under the mattresses in order to see how his friend would sleep. The next morning, the friend said she slept fine, not even noticing the packet of peas, and the prince knew that she was the perfect girl for him. This would be a good book for young readers to compare and contrast with the original book. The illustrations also make the book more engaging for the students.… (more)

Liked this one the best out of the four in the series that I read. The kids of Monvale PS don't have their own oval - they play on one across the road. After sport one day, the PE teacher lets them play there during recess after their PE session finishes. Unfortunately, he takes all the soccer balls with him when he leaves so the boys have to come up with their own game. Jack invents one where they have to untie their shoes and see how far they can kick the shoe from their foot! The loser is chased and tackled to the ground with a "stacks on" by all the other players. Unfortunately for Jack, in the second game, he is the loser and after being tackled by Fadi, a fast Samoan kid in his class, the "stacks on" results in a broken arm.
Jack would not be worried about this except it means that the he won't be able to play in the match with the Grade A Soccer players who are coming next week! On top of this, Jack and his mates, not wanting to get into trouble for playing "stacks on" , put all the blame on Fadi for the broken arm. When Jack sees how this effects Fadi he feels terrible and, even though it may mean he misses the clinic run by the soccer players, Jack decides to come clean to the Principal.
Loved this book for its moral message - the truth is always best , no matter the cost and for the culturally diverse picture it paints of Australian schools. I also loved that the author chose to reward the kids for their honesty - Jack and his friends still participate in the clinic and Fadi stars . (Jack referees with his broken arm.) Lovely story for boys about standing up for your mates.… (more)