The Unforgettable What's His Name

by Paul Jennings, Craig Smith

Now you see him, now you don't - an action-packed adventure about a boy who just wants to blend in, from a bestselling author/illustrator team.

Even before all this happened I had never been like the other kids. I tried not to be seen. If I climbed a tree or hid among the bins, no one could find me. 'Where's What's His Name?' they'd say.

Then, one weekend, I got what I wanted. First, I blended in with things. But on the second day I changed.

I mean, really changed.

The hilarious story of a boy with an unusual problem, from children's book legend Paul Jennings. Includes fantastic look-and-find colour illustrations.

Genres: Middle Grade, Childrens, Chapter Books, Fantasy

224 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 26, 2016

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Paul Jennings was born in Heston near London, and at the age of 6 emigrated to Melbourne, Australia on a boat. He was on the boat for 5 weeks with his family. He attended Bentleigh West Primary School and Caulfield Grammar School.

After graduating from school, he went to Frankston Teachers College (now part of Monash University) and became a teacher. He taught students at Frankston State School, Kangaroo Flat State School, the Turana Youth Training Centre, and the Royal Children's Hospital State School in Mount Eliza. He later went on to study at the Lincoln Institute of Health Science (now part of LaTrobe University) and became a speech pathologist, then worked as a Lecturer in Special Education at Burwood State College (now part of Deakin University). In 1979 he became Senior Lecturer in Language and Literature at Warrnambool Institute of Advanced Education (now part of Deakin University).

In 1985, Jennings' first book of short stories, Unreal! was published, during which he worked as a lecturer and wrote part-time; in 1989, he made the decision to devote his full time to writing. Many of his short stories, published between 1985 and 1991, were also adapted into the first and second series of the popular Australian television show Round the Twist.

Winner of the Dromkeen Medal (2000).

Reviews

[Jo-ann Walsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

@kidlitexchange #partner
Thank you to @kidlitexchange for the free review copy of this book. All opinions are my own. Stanley doesn’t seem to fit in or have any friends. He doesn’t know where his father lives and wants to find him. More than anything, he wants to feel like he belongs. One day he realizes that he can change. If he gets anxious or nervous, he will change into objects around him- a bush, a mailbox, a tree, a spider, and even a monkey. This changing comes in handy as he tries to escape a group of bikers, and tries to find the monkeys who have escaped from the zoo. It can also be inconvenient at times! Through all of his adventures and changing “escapades,” Stanley will finally make a friend, and finds the family he’s been hoping for.
This was a cute story. I thing young children will like the “chameleon” changes that Stanley goes through, wondering what will happen next. His adventures are comical and the accompanying pictures are fun and engaging for readers. I think kids will especially love the adventures with the monkeys. Overall, I liked this book. I’d give it 3.5 stars. I felt some parts could have been more developed (Who exactly is Gertag? Why didn’t Stanley recognize his dad?), but I think this would be a fun book for kids.

[Jayme Carruthers · Rating 3 out of 5]

@kidlitexchange #partner

Thanks to the #KidLitExchange network for my review copy of The Unforgettable What's His Name. All opinions are my own.

This kid (What's his name again?) has a problem. He always sort of blends in with the crowd, never speaking up. Until one day he ACTUALLY blends in with his surroundings. He spends the day getting into all sorts of crazy situations while being chased by a biker gang who can never quite catch up to his changing face. Then, the next day, he starts changing completely into a copy of whatever he's around. This begins a whole new set of problems that follow him around while he tries to find what he was looking for.

I wasn't sure what I was expecting when starting this novel, but this was not it. The Unforgettable What's His Name had me entertained from start to finish. I put together some of the clues before the author came out to tell us what was going on, which gave me a sense of intelligence as an adult so I'm sure it would be awesome for younger kids.

I would recommend The Unforgettable What's His Name to young/middle grade readers. Probably 2nd-4th grade depending if it were a read aloud or an independent read.

#books #bookstagram #ARC #middlegrade #reviewer

[The Bookshop Umina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our kids book club just read this one and all gave it high scores out of ten.

They said it was funny, they enjoyed the humour and the mystery and particular told me to mention there was toilet humour!

A great read for kids 7-13 who like a laugh and monkeys :)
All the kids agreed they would read another one if there was to be a sequel.

We rated it:
9.5/9/8/10/9/8.5/8

[Bothaina · Rating 4 out of 5]

رواية يافعين عن طفل فاقد والده و يعيش مع والدته، طوال حياته يحس انه غير مرئي،و تطور الامر و اصبح مثل الحرباء يتغير شكله و يندمج مع محيطه في محاولة منه للإختباء!
القصة مليئة يالمغامرات و المطاردات، وصفها و حبكتها جميلة و الرسم كان مناسباً جداً
النهاية كانت ملفوفة و غير متوقعة
رواية جميلة تناسب من هم فوق العاشرة من العمر

[Tracy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to the Kid Lit Exchange network for the review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This was a very unsatisfying read for me. The writing was choppy, the ideas were disconnected, and the pacing was off.

[Bryce · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think that the book was really nice and also the bit that I really liked was when the bikies became his friends and also when he found Banana Boy and Sandy that was actually Fearless. Also I liked when he changed into different things and the bad bit was when he was running away from the bikies.

[shourya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprise

I liked the mystery and the powers amazing the illustration the author must have worked hard I like this book a lot

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really engaging read for Year 4 to Year 6. Funny with likeable characters.

[Jill CD · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like the style of Roald Dahl and David Walliams, you will love this book. Grades 3 and up.

[Katy O.]

This was a review title for School Library Journal, so I can't rate or review here. Stay tuned to SLJ for my review!

[Shauna Yusko]

Brought this along on my seminar travels as a quick read. Wish I hadn't hauled it around the country as long as I did since I wasn't a fan of this one. Disappointing. Sending it on to the next person.

[S.M. Boren · Rating 5 out of 5]

@kidlitexchange #partner 🌚 Thanks to #kidlitexchange for sharing the review copy of this book.  All opinions are my own. 🌚 The Unforgettable What's His Name by Paul Jennings and Illustarted by Craig Smith. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 When you are a child and life throws scary things at you we wish we could become something different. In this book, what's his name, rescues a dog makes friends with bikers, let monkeys out of the caged zoo then leads them all back to safety, turns into a bear and scares off his bully, and begins a search for his long lost father. In the end he realizes everyone handles things differently and the last two days were the strangest days of his life. But it all ends well. Recommended for readers 8 and up. Review also posted on Instagram @borenbooks, Library Thing, Amazon, Go Read, Twitter @jason_stacie and my blog at readsbystacie.com

[Khaled]

CAN I READ THIS BOOK PLEASE???????