Petunia Perry and the Curse of the Ugly Pigeon

by Pamela Butchart

Petunia Perry has decided to write her memoirs. She wants the world to know what it’s like to start secondary school with a best friend who stages one-person flash mobs in the canteen, a mother who over-shares at parents’ evenings and an unwelcome suitor who draws pictures of her as a unicorn. But it’s when she decides to start a band with a spoon-player and a lead-singer who’s a cat that things take a turn for the truly crazy…

With kooky, cool incidental illustrations throughout, this hilarious novel about how to fit in when you don’t want to conform will be adored by fans of Louise Rennison and David Walliams.

Genres: Middle Grade, Humor

224 pages, Paperback

First published July 2, 2015

About the author

As a child, Pamela was lucky enough to grow up in a house full of pets and go to a primary school where lots of spooky and weird things happened (well, in her imagination at least). As a student, Pamela’s student jobs included: fishwife, teaching basketball in America, phlebotomist and Artist Liaison for a (really bad) Abba tribute band. Now, when she’s not writing or going out and about meeting readers, Pamela teaches philosophy to teenagers.

Her top selling stories include The Spy Who Loved School Dinners which won the Blue Peter Best Story Award and My Head Teacher is a Vampire Rat which won The Children’s Book Award. Two of her books, Petunia Peri and There’s a Werewolf in My Tent, were shortlisted for the Lollies – the Laugh Out Loud Awards.

Pamela lives in Dundee with her baby boy and their two awesome cats, Bear & Carlos. If she wasn’t working as a writer and a teacher she’d like to open a luxury hotel for stray cats.

Reviews

[Karen Barber · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a taxing read, and some of it I read in amazement that people could be quite so eccentric.
Anyway, Petunia is an interesting character who has a refreshing outlook on life. I like that she's not afraid to be herself, and actually act her age. Though I fear this means the book will appeal more to younger readers who will see her as someone to look up to.
Still, all works out well in the end. The three girls become friends, Edward is okay and the mean girl gets her come-uppance. Very Jaqueline Wilson.

[17byerj236 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is full of humour and has lots of little nots to the reader which I find really interesting. This is a humorous genre, there is no other series. This story is very exciting and page turning and makes you want to find out what happens at the end. The ending is okay I would have expected something different. I would recommend to both genders as it has some girly but it has gross parts in the book that boys or girls might find amusing. The age I would recommend this to is 8-13.
I have given this 3 starts as it gets a bit to childish at the end.

[zaczytana.maja · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5

[Coralinaae · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pamela Butchart zawsze będzie w moim sercu, ale ta książka mi się kompletnie nie podobała. W sensie było parę takich rzeczy, które sprawiły, że się aż uśmiechnęłam. Nie wiem czy to kwestia tego, że jestem o wiele starsza niż wtedy, gdy zachwycałam się jej książkami, czy po prostu to było słabe.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about 'Peri' and her best friend Cammy and their experience of moving into a new school.
They have the great idea of forming a unique band - making sure perry's embarrassing mum doesn't find out and want to tag along to the gigs.
A hilarious and refreshing tale of friendship, crushes, embarrassment, teachers and parents and a special cat.

A great read. Really engaging. When I stated reading I wasn't sure if it would match up to diary of a wimpy kid or dork diaries in writing style but can now personally say I much preferred it. The humour was cheeky and very original but didn't foster any real negative attitudes. Great pictures to illustrate text.
Unique. Engaging.
Thoroughly recommend it.

[Seawood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brilliantly illustrated by Gemma Correll, this book is aimed at a slightly older crowd than Buchart's other school books. The main characters are in Y7 and trying (badly) to get to grips with new friends, enemies and frenemies via the medium of music, flash mobs and outright daftness. Ideal for the Y5-6 student who wants something light and and funny.

[Roan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a cute book! It was a bit of a blast from the past for me, haha. I can see why I liked it so much when I was younger. I really like how Peri's character is written. She's relatable, reasonable and not too dramatic and I like how her friendship & family problems are handled. The Spoons band is adorable too lol. This was a nice, easy to read book to get me out of a reading slump!

[Riya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting it to be more suitable for age 8 but I think lot of stuff is beyond my 8 year old. However, maybe it's also a cultural difference between the west and east. I would say more for 10 year + Y5.

[Mary Pimbblet · Rating 5 out of 5]

My ten year old daughter really enjoyed this and had her own comments to make:

I liked this book, but I would like it if you made a second one from Cammy’s point of view. I want to know what all the kitty’s are called. I thought that it would be funny if one of the cats is named banana🙂🙃 From Iris

[MisterT · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars.
Lol hilarious. But then it got stale midway with the same old school drama cliches, a rushed ending where everything simply became okay, and not to mention the editing mistakes that started popping up.

[SDG · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious and very relatable

[kmkoeva · Rating 4 out of 5]

"When life gives you lemons, crush those lemons, chuck them over the fence and make an awesome plan."

[Natalia Siekańska · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[wiktoria!! · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,75

[Tracey White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really funny! Made my son laugh out loud several times. He particularly liked Margaret.

[nikola · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5⭐

[atu ✿❀ · Rating 4 out of 5]

sobbing I forgot sm about this book (it's rlly DUMB) but i have sm memories w this book 3

[Elfie-Bea Allott · Rating 4 out of 5]

So funny will definitely read it agian

[Yuri 99 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice and quick read although a lot of the scenes gave me second hand embarrassment (unsurprisingly) And I quite like this! ^ ^

[Luna's Little Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peri aka Petunia is in her wardrobe writing her memoirs. She’s 100% sure her best friend hates her and 93.5% sure that Cammy (said BF) was making a voodoo doll of Peri in Food Tech. Peri is also been accused of spoon theft. This just page 1 and I haven’t even gone beyond a few lines. Once Peri gets past her fact sheet to Epic Records and begins her memoirs there is no holding back.

As a narrator Peri is anything but one-dimensional. She’s comes crashing out of the page and into your room and you will hear everything she has to tell you. It’s kinda awesome, if you click. I had a great time reading Petunia Perry and the Curse of the Ugly Pigeon. Peri’s narration and her personality – great, plus I loved the chapter titles.

I think it you don’t get Peri then this book isn’t going to work for you because this book is Peri. The good thing is that all it takes is 1 page for you to know. So try it, because chances are you won’t want to leave the shop without taking Petunia Perry and the Curse of the Ugly Pigeon with you.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

read this when I was a child 😭 It was like dork diaries.

[Capnniknak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laughed out loud. Really enjoyed Butchart's writing and Correll's illustrations made me smile. What a great partnership - funny story with endearing illustrations.

Would recommend for kids, parents and teachers.

[Graine Milner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great fun!