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The Crazy Christmas Caper
Christmas was always a special time in the Finny family home despite them living deep under the ocean. This year, Christmas is about to go very wrong indeed. Skinny Finny and his twin brother, Tubby wake on Christmas morning to find their parents missing. They set out to find them and to ruin Christmas in the process. Heaven help anyone who gets in their way ...
Will the world famous MI5 agent, Super Spy Wobblebottom be able to stop Skinny Finny from ruining Christmas for children all around the world? Or will Skinny Finny and his ingenious inventions triumph?
The Crazy Christmas Caper is perfect for young readers of 7-12 years old who enjoy a tale that delivers suspense and laughs in equal measure. It's also perfect for adults to read to children of younger ages. A chapter each night will send parent and child to bed with a sense of wonder and, perhaps, a grin on their face!
Will the world famous MI5 agent, Super Spy Wobblebottom be able to stop Skinny Finny from ruining Christmas for children all around the world? Or will Skinny Finny and his ingenious inventions triumph?
The Crazy Christmas Caper is perfect for young readers of 7-12 years old who enjoy a tale that delivers suspense and laughs in equal measure. It's also perfect for adults to read to children of younger ages. A chapter each night will send parent and child to bed with a sense of wonder and, perhaps, a grin on their face!
- GenresChristmas
146 pages, Paperback
First published October 22, 2013
5 people are currently reading
722 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Guile
4 books12 followersMarried with three young children, Andrew Guile has been telling stories about The Amazing Adventures of Skinny Finny and Super Spy Wobblebottom for many years. His first book, The Crazy Christmas Caper (Skinny Publishing, 2013), won an honourable mention in the Wishing Shelf Independent Book Awards in 2014. The sequel, The Mad Moon Mission was a finalist in the same competition in 2017.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 26, 2013
This book not only provides children with an original and exciting adventure to follow, it also has them laughing out loud at Skinny and his brother Tubbys' approach to searching for their parents who disappear before the brothers wake up on Christms morning. Skinny adopts a determined and creative approach to finding his parents, whist his twin brother...who lives in his own bumbling worl...finds it difficult to use his imagination when following his brother's instructions. This results in a hilarious account of the journey through the chaos that ensues. I highly recommend this book not only as a Christmas read but also to be read throughout the year.
December 19, 2014
This book had good life lessons wrapped in some fun adventures. I think it would make a great cartoon! I enjoyed both the story and the illustrations.
August 29, 2014
This book was recently entered and given an Honourable Mention in The Wishing Shelf Awards. This is what our young readers thought:
FEEDBACK - THE CRAZY CHRISTMAS CAPER
COVER
The children loved the cover. They thought it was colourful and the lettering very easy to read. They liked all the characters being on there although a teacher did think it was a bit 'bottom-heavy'. One child, boy aged 9, put in his feedback, 'The pic on the front is really fun. Lots of colour too.'
CONTENT
The children enjoyed the story. They loved the characters particularly the very silly Tubby and the fantastically named Wobblybottom and they thought all the inventions were cool. They thought the plot was interesting and they liked the idea of the illusive Dr Butscratcher. One girl aged 12 put, 'This story is very silly but mostly in a good way. I liked the twins because I'm a twin too. I liked the fact they were different to each other.'
STYLE
The children thought the author's style of writing was very funny. They liked that the chapters were not too long and they understood nearly all the words. A number of the teachers thought the author's descriptive work, particularly of character, was excellent. One teacher put, 'This writer has a magical pen when describing characters. Refreshingly written and fantastic fun for me and the kids.'
EDITING
The children discovered no spelling, punctuation or grammatical errors in the story. They though it had excellent pacing too. However, can you spot the missing apostrophe in the acknowledgments?
STATS
Of the 16 readers,
14 want to read a sequel
9 felt the best part of the book was the exciting plot.
3 felt the best part was the humour.
2 felt the best part was the character Wobblybottom.
13 thought the cover was excellent and fun.
'A fantastically fun page-turner. Highly recommended.' The Wishing Shelf Awards
FEEDBACK - THE CRAZY CHRISTMAS CAPER
COVER
The children loved the cover. They thought it was colourful and the lettering very easy to read. They liked all the characters being on there although a teacher did think it was a bit 'bottom-heavy'. One child, boy aged 9, put in his feedback, 'The pic on the front is really fun. Lots of colour too.'
CONTENT
The children enjoyed the story. They loved the characters particularly the very silly Tubby and the fantastically named Wobblybottom and they thought all the inventions were cool. They thought the plot was interesting and they liked the idea of the illusive Dr Butscratcher. One girl aged 12 put, 'This story is very silly but mostly in a good way. I liked the twins because I'm a twin too. I liked the fact they were different to each other.'
STYLE
The children thought the author's style of writing was very funny. They liked that the chapters were not too long and they understood nearly all the words. A number of the teachers thought the author's descriptive work, particularly of character, was excellent. One teacher put, 'This writer has a magical pen when describing characters. Refreshingly written and fantastic fun for me and the kids.'
EDITING
The children discovered no spelling, punctuation or grammatical errors in the story. They though it had excellent pacing too. However, can you spot the missing apostrophe in the acknowledgments?
STATS
Of the 16 readers,
14 want to read a sequel
9 felt the best part of the book was the exciting plot.
3 felt the best part was the humour.
2 felt the best part was the character Wobblybottom.
13 thought the cover was excellent and fun.
'A fantastically fun page-turner. Highly recommended.' The Wishing Shelf Awards
January 20, 2015
Christmas is always a fun time for the Finny family. Only this Christmas things went terribly wrong. Mr. Finny had gone to the North Pole to help Santa get his toys ready for delivery; but somehow Mr. Finny disappeared and was no where to be found. Next Mrs. Finny went missing. Their children Skinny Finny and Tubius Finny wondered where in the world they could be. Living in a submarine under the ocean, they had to come up with some kind of plan to find their parents. It was lonely without them and there wouldn't be a Christmas to celebrate.
Skinny devised a plan to steal the North Pole and get inside to find his parents. But everything he set out to do just backfired all the time. In comes Super Spy Wobblebottom to get to the bottom of things. Wobblebottom had a big behind and it jiggled when he walked and knocked things over. He was determined to arrest Skinny and Tubby for stealing the North Pole.
Oh, so many things occur to put Skinny in trouble and his brother too. How will they ever find their parents and what will Father Christmas do without his North Pole and elves to get the toys ready for all the children of the world?
I won this book through the Goodreads Giveaway and found it enjoyable. Children and adults both will like this story. Read on.
Skinny devised a plan to steal the North Pole and get inside to find his parents. But everything he set out to do just backfired all the time. In comes Super Spy Wobblebottom to get to the bottom of things. Wobblebottom had a big behind and it jiggled when he walked and knocked things over. He was determined to arrest Skinny and Tubby for stealing the North Pole.
Oh, so many things occur to put Skinny in trouble and his brother too. How will they ever find their parents and what will Father Christmas do without his North Pole and elves to get the toys ready for all the children of the world?
I won this book through the Goodreads Giveaway and found it enjoyable. Children and adults both will like this story. Read on.
September 10, 2018
I received this book through Goodreads First Reads.
The quality of book is very good! A cover, the paper, pictures are perfect!
A great funny story :-). Like it very much!
"... Parents can buy toys from countless places, Toy'n'Us, Amazonia.com ...there are hundreds of stores in the high street and on the internet!"
"Nonsense, - countered Father Christmas. - I am the only major manufacturer in the world. Of those you mentioned ...I own Toy'n'Us and Amazonia.com."
...
"I fear you are mistaken, Mr Christmas, - he sad. - As everyone knows, 90% of all toys are made in China, not the North Pole"...
Father Christmas simply raised his eyebrows. "Again, Mr Sloppybottom, you are quite wrong. China stands for CHristmas INternational Australasia. CH.IN.A. It's my operation in the Far East."
Recommended for kids and for their parents who (I'm sure) will love this great adventure.
The quality of book is very good! A cover, the paper, pictures are perfect!
A great funny story :-). Like it very much!
"... Parents can buy toys from countless places, Toy'n'Us, Amazonia.com ...there are hundreds of stores in the high street and on the internet!"
"Nonsense, - countered Father Christmas. - I am the only major manufacturer in the world. Of those you mentioned ...I own Toy'n'Us and Amazonia.com."
...
"I fear you are mistaken, Mr Christmas, - he sad. - As everyone knows, 90% of all toys are made in China, not the North Pole"...
Father Christmas simply raised his eyebrows. "Again, Mr Sloppybottom, you are quite wrong. China stands for CHristmas INternational Australasia. CH.IN.A. It's my operation in the Far East."
Recommended for kids and for their parents who (I'm sure) will love this great adventure.
June 26, 2017
I picked this book up on a whim. And was rewarded with a hilarious caper - and yes, that word was well chosen in the title - following the misadventures of the world's latest super-villain, Skinny Finny, and his brother Tubby (not quite so villainous) following the disappearance of their parents. Ruining Skinny's Christmas is not advisable, apparently.
Guile has created this wonderfully irreverent tale, told in typically English fashion, for children (young and old, I might add) to read. It is whimsical and simple, yet completely captivating.
And as all good Christmas stories do, it ends... well, I'm not going to say.
I really enjoyed reading this one. Not quite the warm, fuzzy Christmas story, but still great fun.
Guile has created this wonderfully irreverent tale, told in typically English fashion, for children (young and old, I might add) to read. It is whimsical and simple, yet completely captivating.
And as all good Christmas stories do, it ends... well, I'm not going to say.
I really enjoyed reading this one. Not quite the warm, fuzzy Christmas story, but still great fun.
December 7, 2014
I think young kids are going to love this great adventure. It is a humorous tale about saving Christmas and also the Finny parents. I loved the way the author brought in whimsical inventions and fun characters that make you laugh out loud. This would be a wonderful story to read together as a family at Christmas time. I hope this author will do many holiday tales that families can love for years.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews