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My Funny Family
My Funny Family on Holiday
It's the summer holidays and the Butterfield family is going away to Cornwall. As usual, Mattie has plenty to worry about. What if she loses the luggage she's been put in charge of? What if someone falls over a cliff? And worst of all ... what if they've forgotten someone?
- GenresChildrens
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 29, 2017
It's easy to read. Very nice story about a girl who is spending her vacation near the beach where she meets mysterious boy. It has a nice twist at the end that I did not see coming. This book is a part of the series, also.
November 15, 2015
Chris Higgins (UK author) has created a delightful family series aimed at "newly independent" readers (138 pp, generous spacing, and occasional B/W drawings). The narrator of the series is Mattie, the 9-year-old second child of the quirky Butterworth family. Her older brother Dontie (short for Donatello) has given her a series of nicknames, all of which mock her propensity to worry: Mattie Mind-a-lot, Penelope Panic-Pants, Brenda Brood-a-bit, Wendy Worry Worm, Stella Stressling, etc.
In this second volume of the MY FUNNY FAMILY/MI LOCA FAMILIA series, Mattie’s artist father and pregnant mother decide to take a day-long train trip to Cornwall for a two-week vacation camping on the beach, with five kids in tow. (Since I have had the great good fortune to visit Cornwall, this doesn’t seem so crazy to me, except for the “with 5 kids in tow” part.) The story unfolds in a series of realistic and sometimes amusing family escapades. It also involves Mattie’s enchanting encounter with a creature from local folklore, and ends with a daring escape through a warren of tunnels inside a cliff.
The translation, like the original text, is full of descriptive language, and simple yet expressive dialogue. North American readers will find the Spanish definitely Castilian, so some of the common phrases may seem a little jarring. For example, if you’re accustomed to saying “anoche” for “last night,” you might be surprised to read “ayer noche” instead. My position on this variety in Spanish (and indeed English) dialects is that children and adults can expand their minds by being exposed to different ways of using the language. In other words, in my opinion, it’s not a ‘deal-breaker’ when recommending books to American readers.
This is one of the most charming books I have read in a long time. Mattie’s voice brings all the magic together. I’ve just ordered the first and third of the series for my library, and I can’t wait to get them….they are currently out of stock, so they may be Christmas vacation reading. I am also ordering the English versions so that the 2nd and 3rd graders at my school can all enjoy the series, whether they are English or Spanish dominant.
In this second volume of the MY FUNNY FAMILY/MI LOCA FAMILIA series, Mattie’s artist father and pregnant mother decide to take a day-long train trip to Cornwall for a two-week vacation camping on the beach, with five kids in tow. (Since I have had the great good fortune to visit Cornwall, this doesn’t seem so crazy to me, except for the “with 5 kids in tow” part.) The story unfolds in a series of realistic and sometimes amusing family escapades. It also involves Mattie’s enchanting encounter with a creature from local folklore, and ends with a daring escape through a warren of tunnels inside a cliff.
The translation, like the original text, is full of descriptive language, and simple yet expressive dialogue. North American readers will find the Spanish definitely Castilian, so some of the common phrases may seem a little jarring. For example, if you’re accustomed to saying “anoche” for “last night,” you might be surprised to read “ayer noche” instead. My position on this variety in Spanish (and indeed English) dialects is that children and adults can expand their minds by being exposed to different ways of using the language. In other words, in my opinion, it’s not a ‘deal-breaker’ when recommending books to American readers.
This is one of the most charming books I have read in a long time. Mattie’s voice brings all the magic together. I’ve just ordered the first and third of the series for my library, and I can’t wait to get them….they are currently out of stock, so they may be Christmas vacation reading. I am also ordering the English versions so that the 2nd and 3rd graders at my school can all enjoy the series, whether they are English or Spanish dominant.
November 1, 2015
Very funny book about a family on holiday very exiting and I am sure children will love the book.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews