The Secret Book

Flember #1

by Jamie Smart

A mysterious island. A strange and mystical power called FLEMBER. A boy-inventor called Dev, who uncovers a long-forgotten secret. And a GIANT, RED ROBOT BEAR?! The sleepy village of Eden is about to descend into HILARIOUS chaos - can disastrous Dev save his brand new best friend? Find out in this fully illustrated mad-cap adventure.

Genres: Fiction, Childrens

356 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2019

About the author

Jamie Smart is a British comic artist and author best known for his 10-issue comic series Bear and his popular children's comic series Bunny vs Monkey running in the Phoenix magazine.

Reviews

[Selina McClure]

It's brilliant. (according to my 8 year old). Jamie Smart is officially the best author ever. He's like Bunny vs Monkey and Looshkin as well. It's very funny and silly. He can't wait until the next book.

[Sean Potter]

An amazing book with good characters a good story. An amazing start of a wonderful book series. They had a mix of jokes and sad moments. And the ending was a great set up for the other 3 books that right now have been written. I like the pages that act like blueprints to Devs inventions. Also the ending was the best way to set dev and bona and devs brother on their amazing adventure.

[Carly]

My 8 year old daughter and I read this book and absolutely loved it from start to finish. Many nights of reading past bedtime and then talking about the plot even later! It made us laugh a lot, it made us worry/feel sad for bits and it made us very happy at the end. Lots of great talking points and we have happy memories of sharing our ideas. We still have questions and can’t wait to see if they are answered/expanded on in book two. Would thoroughly recommend.

[Linsey May]

My son is a huge fans of Bunny vs Monkey, Looshkin and now Hero Slam (Phoenix comic) so I’m glad that I was able to finally talk him into Flember.
He was put off by “too many words” and lack of colour illustrations but I’ve read it to him over a series of bedtimes and he’s really gotten into it. There’s just enough illustration in it to keep him invested.

The characters are fun and the story is based around a semi-scientific idea that there’s a finite amount of energy (or Flember) in the universe and for every new life something else must end. Circle of life, if you will.

Excited to read book 2 and see where this goes, it still has some of the silliness of Jamie Smart’s comic strips which my son loves, but with a sentimentality too

[Paul Firth]

Bought for my 6yo's birthday last year as he's a big fan of Bunny vs Monkey and Looshkin.

Perhaps a little pre-emptive as it took a while for us to get round to reading it but when we did the ultimate seal of approval "one more chapter?" crept into bedtime when I was reading it to him, signalling that he was well and truly hooked.

Flember is a wonderful book, full of the inventive silliness you'd expect from Jamie Smart, but with a fantastic story at its heart and great illustrations throughout. Waiting for book 2 now!

[EL_$i dragon girly]

A go to for young reads of 6+ who want to read

As a person who has loved Jamie smarts books this is by far a great book

I loved the drama and the idea of Flember this mysterious thing that gives plants and animals life

Overall a great book for young readers who want a bigger book to read that isn’t David Williams

[Rakie Keig]

It's not quite as funny or frantic as BEAR or LOOSHKIN (Jamie Smart sets himself a very high bar, tbf) but it's a solid, enjoyable adventure story with enough madcap inventions, waffle-eating, and fart jokes to appeal to all ages.

[Jane]

I am going against the grain here to say we didn’t love it. I thought the writing was beautiful in parts but my son (8 years old) couldn’t get into it when I was reading it to him so we didn’t finish it.

[Layla Crowie]

I was expecting humour, I wasn't expecting the emotional underlying current throughout. This was so well written and I wish I hadn't been so busy that I couldn't just sit and devour it in one go!

Truly delightful and heart warming. I cannot wait to dive into the next book in the series.

[Tim Robinson]

The nonstop action is too much for my tired old bones.

[William A. Heelis]

Great

[Tas]

I loved this book and the illustrations were super cute too. I would so love to see a movie or animation of it one day.

[Aubrey Murmouth]

Loved it! Very fun and enchanting read.

[Freddie Fielder]

Pretty good

[Russell Edwards]

A fun book on a funny Bear and a smart boy. a good start to the series!

[Year 5]

Already read but it was super good

[Katy]

My 8 year old son loves Jamie smart and has done for years. This is our first novel by him and we’ve enjoyed it a lot.