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Fintan Fedora: The World's Worst Explorer
In the deepest, darkest jungle grows something of such immense value that men will do anything to get their hands on it: the elusive and delicious chocoplum. Well-meaning but hapless Fintan Fedora is determined to prove to his father, owner of the Fedora Fancy Food Company, that he will one day be good enough to take over the family business.
- GenresChildrens
256 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2011
About the author
Clive Goddard
41 books5 followersClive Goddard is:
A professional cartoonist, published in Private Eye, Prospect, Punch, Playboy etc, as well as commissions for the BBC, American Express, Oxford University Press, Specsavers & many others..
An illustrator of non-fiction children's books for Scholastic including the 'Horribly Famous' series, 'Bonkers Books' and the 'Totally' series.
A writer of children's books including the award-winning 'Fintan Fedora the World's Worst Explorer' series.
A professional cartoonist, published in Private Eye, Prospect, Punch, Playboy etc, as well as commissions for the BBC, American Express, Oxford University Press, Specsavers & many others..
An illustrator of non-fiction children's books for Scholastic including the 'Horribly Famous' series, 'Bonkers Books' and the 'Totally' series.
A writer of children's books including the award-winning 'Fintan Fedora the World's Worst Explorer' series.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 25, 2016
Want a good laugh with your child? Want to read about an accident prone character called Fintan Fedora? Did you answer yes to any of these two questions? Then I suggest picking this novel up and giving it the go it deserves!
It's a book I've been meaning to read for several years but never quite got there until I made the proper effort to do so. Safe to say I'm glad I finally did and I wasn't let down by it either. Sometimes you just want to read some silly fun stuff and Fedora offers that in spades.
He is so blind to the trouble that he causes to his 'babysitter' aka butler Gribley or Gribs as Fintan likes to call him. Fintan is the type of child who is accident prone but not just on a small scale...Whatever he touches has the high chance of breaking, exploding, getting destroyed or possibly going up in flames. Except his Peanut Butter and Jelly sambos seem to be a-okay most of the time.
He's the type of kid who has the heart of gold and wants to so desperately prove himself to his family that he can in fact do something right. When he gets it into his head that the super rare 'chocoplum' actually exists he believes he'll be able to get his hands on one...Something to show to his family that he can do something right plus to hopefully prove a point as to why he shouldn't be cut out of the family cake business WHICH his parents strongly want to do.
Now Gribs and Fintan could of easily avoided EVERYTHING troublesome by catching the airflight to Brazil (except for the pesky mother and son who want to kidnap Fintan for a ransom) but poor ol'Fintan hates flying to an extreme point. Money seems to be no object and within a few phone calls he and Gribs are now on a cruise boat sailing to Brazil...Do you think that everything will go smoothly on the cruise boat? Of course not! Turns out Gribs is green in the gulls and spends most of his time outside trying not to throw up while Fintan is inside the boat making unsuspecting enemies who decided it's a good idea to follow Fintan into the Amazon jungle.
As you can expect the trip in the jungle is anything but smooth but somehow for everything that goes wrong Fintan is left in one piece..His butler wants the journey to end quickly and safely but he's well aware that it might not happen.
What happens next? Does he find that chocoplum?
It's a book that will have you laughing one minute then uttering 'Oh no' in the next breath. It's well worth a pick up and read with children or even as an adult.
It's a book I've been meaning to read for several years but never quite got there until I made the proper effort to do so. Safe to say I'm glad I finally did and I wasn't let down by it either. Sometimes you just want to read some silly fun stuff and Fedora offers that in spades.
He is so blind to the trouble that he causes to his 'babysitter' aka butler Gribley or Gribs as Fintan likes to call him. Fintan is the type of child who is accident prone but not just on a small scale...Whatever he touches has the high chance of breaking, exploding, getting destroyed or possibly going up in flames. Except his Peanut Butter and Jelly sambos seem to be a-okay most of the time.
He's the type of kid who has the heart of gold and wants to so desperately prove himself to his family that he can in fact do something right. When he gets it into his head that the super rare 'chocoplum' actually exists he believes he'll be able to get his hands on one...Something to show to his family that he can do something right plus to hopefully prove a point as to why he shouldn't be cut out of the family cake business WHICH his parents strongly want to do.
Now Gribs and Fintan could of easily avoided EVERYTHING troublesome by catching the airflight to Brazil (except for the pesky mother and son who want to kidnap Fintan for a ransom) but poor ol'Fintan hates flying to an extreme point. Money seems to be no object and within a few phone calls he and Gribs are now on a cruise boat sailing to Brazil...Do you think that everything will go smoothly on the cruise boat? Of course not! Turns out Gribs is green in the gulls and spends most of his time outside trying not to throw up while Fintan is inside the boat making unsuspecting enemies who decided it's a good idea to follow Fintan into the Amazon jungle.
As you can expect the trip in the jungle is anything but smooth but somehow for everything that goes wrong Fintan is left in one piece..His butler wants the journey to end quickly and safely but he's well aware that it might not happen.
What happens next? Does he find that chocoplum?
It's a book that will have you laughing one minute then uttering 'Oh no' in the next breath. It's well worth a pick up and read with children or even as an adult.
May 2, 2012
It's amazing what you can find in the library. I saw this book come in as a new stock last week and thought the title sounded catchy. Then a couple of days ago one of my colleagues picked it up and read the first page, she started laughing and told me to have a look, said i would love it. Well I opened it up and was laughing straight away so I decided to take it home, figuring it was short and funny so would take me no time to read at all.
I am so glad she gave it to me, this is a treasure of a book, I couldn't stop smiling or laughing, in fact I laughed so hard I shot juice out my nose - warning do not eat or drink whilst reading this book, it's messy. :P
Fintan is a rather hopeless young boy, everything he touches either breaks, bursts into flames or just fails entirely, his father despairs and is thinking of cutting him out of the company business - a Cake making business at that (the best kind really!) Desperate to prove himself, Fintan sets off to Brazil and the Amazon jungle in search of a rare fruit the 'Chocoplum' most don't even believe in it's existance but Fintan won't let that stop him.
His butler Gribley is dragged along on the adventure. Along the way they meet Wrench - a business Mogul from a rival company and Edith & Eric, a mother and son duo who are down on their luck. But with Fintan around, things never run smoothly.
I loved Fintan, he was so funny, total idiot most of the time but with those odd flashes of brilliance. The fact that everytime he tried to help something went wrong made me feel sorry for him, but he was so upbeat and oblivious to the chaos around him, and he had the odd moment where an accident would be the perfect solution.
This book is filled with laugh out loud moments, especially if you like slap-stick humour. I loved Gribleys dry sense of humour and sarcasm, and his patience in dealing with Fintan.
I would definitely recommend this book, it is packed with laughs and perfect for fans of Horrid Henry looking for something a bit more challenging. Boys and girls will love it, it's a delight for grown ups too.
Brilliant imagery too, I could picture everything, and couldn't drag myself away from it.
I am so glad she gave it to me, this is a treasure of a book, I couldn't stop smiling or laughing, in fact I laughed so hard I shot juice out my nose - warning do not eat or drink whilst reading this book, it's messy. :P
Fintan is a rather hopeless young boy, everything he touches either breaks, bursts into flames or just fails entirely, his father despairs and is thinking of cutting him out of the company business - a Cake making business at that (the best kind really!) Desperate to prove himself, Fintan sets off to Brazil and the Amazon jungle in search of a rare fruit the 'Chocoplum' most don't even believe in it's existance but Fintan won't let that stop him.
His butler Gribley is dragged along on the adventure. Along the way they meet Wrench - a business Mogul from a rival company and Edith & Eric, a mother and son duo who are down on their luck. But with Fintan around, things never run smoothly.
I loved Fintan, he was so funny, total idiot most of the time but with those odd flashes of brilliance. The fact that everytime he tried to help something went wrong made me feel sorry for him, but he was so upbeat and oblivious to the chaos around him, and he had the odd moment where an accident would be the perfect solution.
This book is filled with laugh out loud moments, especially if you like slap-stick humour. I loved Gribleys dry sense of humour and sarcasm, and his patience in dealing with Fintan.
I would definitely recommend this book, it is packed with laughs and perfect for fans of Horrid Henry looking for something a bit more challenging. Boys and girls will love it, it's a delight for grown ups too.
Brilliant imagery too, I could picture everything, and couldn't drag myself away from it.
September 29, 2012
Laugh out loud funny...some super characters
April 20, 2012
A gorgeous book with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, Fintan Fedora is the story of a young boy who is extremely clumsy. With all the best of intentions, he manages to make everything he touches break, catch on fire or otherwise turn to custard.
When he gets it into his head that he will go to the Amazon Jungle in search of a rare fruit to prove himself to his father, his ever enduring butler is obliged to tag along and keep the boy out of trouble - a full time occupation to say the least.
I love this light-hearted style of writing. Everything Fintan does goes wrong and yet that same unpredictability gets him out of trouble time after time. As big business spies shadow him on his trek towards the rare fruit grove, Fintan flails about and manages to knock them out with an oar, put insects in their boots or set their fake beard alight.
A part of me wishes Fintan's character had been just a little less wrapped up in his own world and oblivious to the experiences of others, but then I suppose that is an accurate portrayal of a fourteen-year-old son of a millionaire.
I think Fintan Fedora would be perfect as a children's afternoon television show and I would definitely recommend this book - especially to young boys. It is fun, safe and full of silliness.
When he gets it into his head that he will go to the Amazon Jungle in search of a rare fruit to prove himself to his father, his ever enduring butler is obliged to tag along and keep the boy out of trouble - a full time occupation to say the least.
I love this light-hearted style of writing. Everything Fintan does goes wrong and yet that same unpredictability gets him out of trouble time after time. As big business spies shadow him on his trek towards the rare fruit grove, Fintan flails about and manages to knock them out with an oar, put insects in their boots or set their fake beard alight.
A part of me wishes Fintan's character had been just a little less wrapped up in his own world and oblivious to the experiences of others, but then I suppose that is an accurate portrayal of a fourteen-year-old son of a millionaire.
I think Fintan Fedora would be perfect as a children's afternoon television show and I would definitely recommend this book - especially to young boys. It is fun, safe and full of silliness.
September 26, 2017
This is a brilliant, brilliant, brilliant book!
I laughed, I cried, I wet myself.
The fact that it was written by someone called Clive Goddard (which is also my name) is a total coincidence. I have never met this person (i.e. not me) so this is a completely unbiased opinion but if I ever did met them (not me) I would be the happiest human on earth. In fact I would probably be happier than anyone has ever felt in the history of human happiness to the point of exploding.
I think that this author (still not me) should be given a knighthood and a huge pile of money which I would be very grateful for.
D'oh!
I laughed, I cried, I wet myself.
The fact that it was written by someone called Clive Goddard (which is also my name) is a total coincidence. I have never met this person (i.e. not me) so this is a completely unbiased opinion but if I ever did met them (not me) I would be the happiest human on earth. In fact I would probably be happier than anyone has ever felt in the history of human happiness to the point of exploding.
I think that this author (still not me) should be given a knighthood and a huge pile of money which I would be very grateful for.
D'oh!
August 8, 2014
Liliana's book review; I LOVED this book it is one of the best books I have read it was so exciting and hilarious.With a fourteen year old boy he's the only one in the whole school who has an employee.Yet does he know he will go into the deepest jungle to find the rarest fruit so rear it might not even exist.But only the brave or maddest would try to find it(you do realise I,m talking about Fintan Fedora,right)
How will he ever get this rear fruit?
Well you read the book, that what I did....
By Liliana
How will he ever get this rear fruit?
Well you read the book, that what I did....
By Liliana
April 4, 2016
Even though the book doesn't have a very great sorry line, the author explains the works of fate and results of foolishness by his characters in a very funny manner. The book was undoubtedly hilarious and had a smooth flow throughout it. It gived the satisfaction of finishing a good book when I finished it.
February 2, 2018
I guess I would have to be a child to appreciate this book but to me it was just such a disappointment. I can't believe how stupid, how dumb all the characters in this book are. And how impossible it is to like the protagonist. And not because he is described as clumsy or accident-prone, which by the way never actually affects him because all the damage is done to other people, places, but because he has no quality, no personal trait one could like. He is just a 14-year old rich kid oblivious to the world around him. And I have no reason to hate or love him or to care about him at all. And neither does anybody else in the book even if the author would like us to believe otherwise. That includes the butler. He is just there because the kid is rich and can have one and he has to be there to expand on the clumsyness and be the reasonable and smart counterpart. I find it hard to believe that a capable butler who has dealt with this troublesome child all of his life wouldn't make better preparation for a trip or at least ask him where he is planing to go.
Maybe I was too spoiled by Artemis Fowl books, where everything even supernatural stuff makes sense. Maybe this book is written for even younger audience. But NO. You've got a 14-yo kid in a jungle with people who are trying to kidnap and KILL him, big explosions and devastation of rainforest. This is not a book for little children. This is just lazy storytelling masked as a great adventure.
Maybe I was too spoiled by Artemis Fowl books, where everything even supernatural stuff makes sense. Maybe this book is written for even younger audience. But NO. You've got a 14-yo kid in a jungle with people who are trying to kidnap and KILL him, big explosions and devastation of rainforest. This is not a book for little children. This is just lazy storytelling masked as a great adventure.
June 28, 2011
I was given this by a friend for my son, and it was the perfect gift! We both really enjoyed it!
I recommend it for anyone with kids aged 5-12, especially if they like slapstick style humour, there were moments when I had to stop reading as both myself and my 5 year old were laughing too hard to continue!! Fabulous, and we look forward to more!!
I recommend it for anyone with kids aged 5-12, especially if they like slapstick style humour, there were moments when I had to stop reading as both myself and my 5 year old were laughing too hard to continue!! Fabulous, and we look forward to more!!
October 1, 2015
I thought I recognised the style.
Am I allowed to rate my own book by the way? Seems a bit wrong to me but I've got to make a living somehow!
Am I allowed to rate my own book by the way? Seems a bit wrong to me but I've got to make a living somehow!
March 20, 2014
Oh so good!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews