Crackers

by Elizabeth Laird

Unable to get a copy of their favourite comic, Sandy and Rich team up to write, illustrate and sell one of their own. With new characters like Glossop the Frog, the Lollipops and William the Waiter, their comic is immensely popular and always sells out, until a rival gang bring out another comic.

Genres: Childrens

120 pages, Paperback

First published May 2, 1989

About the author

Laird was born in New Zealand in 1943, the fourth of five children. Her father was a ship's surgeon; both he and Laird's mother were Scottish. In 1945, Laird and her family returned to Britain and she grew up in South London, where she was educated at Croydon High School.
When she was eighteen, Laird started teaching at a school in Malaysia. She decided to continue her adventurous life, even though she was bitten by a poisonous snake and went down with typhoid.

After attending the university in Bristol, Laird began teaching English in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She and a friend would hire mules and go into remote areas in the holidays.

After a while at Edinburgh University, Laird worked in India for a summer. During travel, she met her future husband, David McDowall, who she said was very kind to her when she was airsick on a plane. The couple were married in 1975 and have two sons, Angus and William.

Laird has also visited Iraq and Lebanon. She claims to dislike snakes, porridge and being cold but enjoys very dark chocolate, Mozart, reading and playing the violin in the Iraq Symphony Orchestra.

She currently lives in Richmond, London with her husband.

Reviews

[Kirsti · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this book as a child, and not much has changed as an adult. Much like Rick, I spent my time drawing up funny cartoons and watching bigger kids than me rule the playground. Unlike Rick though, I would never have to the nerve to share my comics in a magazine and pass them around the playground!

My old copy of this is tattered and torn, but it holds so many memories of a simpler time in both my life and my reading tastes. I see there are new editions out since mine, so I hope kids can read this and draw inspiration from it like I did. Of course five stars!

[Andrew Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elizabeth Laird is primarily known for her serious UKS2 stories of children struggling with civil war in the Middle East, or with challenge and poverty in North Africa, reflecting her own extensive real-life experiences in these parts of the world, so I was surprised to discover she also has a range of LKS2 lighter stories on subjects much closer to home - indeed 'Crackers' doesn't get a mention on her personal website! I'm glad I unearthed this book from the School Experience Library however, as it could do much to inspire enthusiastic multimodal reading and writing amongst the children who share it. Rick's mother has a negative attitude to his love of comics: a 9-year old should, she feels, be reading literature like his older siblings. Her opinion is transformed however, when Rick and some friends at school collaborate to produce their own series of comics, full of skilful artwork, amusing jokes, original characters, drawing competitions, and more. Illustrations in the book depict some of their creations, which despite the book's age (written in 1989) might well still be appealing to children today, and could inspire teachers and classes to want to create comic stories of their own, either by hand or using technology. There are occasional statements which date the book, but pleasingly, Rick teams up not with other boys to design his comic, but with art-lovers Bella and Zeb, who is a child with EAL. They encounter challenge along the way, in the form of a bully who tries to outdo their drawings by handing out free gifts, and of course Rick's family, from whom he struggles to keep secret his cartoon endeavours for fear of disapproval. Nevertheless, these obstacles are surmounted and their comic is a huge success with pupils and teachers, sending the important message that cartoons, illustration and other multimodal literacies have an important place in literacy learning in the classroom. I particularly like the way the book makes children's creative writing relevant to them: reading Liz Chamberlain and Paul Johnson on the importance of purpose and meaningfulness for young writers, I could imagine this book linking children's home reading with school, and stimulating sustained enthusiasm and personal connection for fictional and non-fictional writing and illustration within the classroom.

[Varsha Seshan · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://www.varshaseshan.com/crackers/

[James Day · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gave this book a five star for the pure nostalgia, i loved this book when i was young and was the first book i ever read. very much a children's book and a happy read.

[Shlok Pandey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crackers is surely a must read and this book will always succeed to entertain and impress the reader. A pleasant reading experience.