My Friend Percy's Magical Gym Shoes

Ulf and Percy #1

by Ulf Stark

Kada je u odeljenje došao Persi, nov učenik, za opreznog i bojažljivog Ulfa sve se promenilo! Persi sve može i sve sme zahvaljujući svojim čarobnim patikama. Ulf želi te patike da bi i sam postao jak i hrabar. Ali, da bi do njih došao, treba da sklopi poslovni dogovor s Persijem…

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Swedish Literature, Middle Grade

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Ulf Gottfrid Stark was a Swedish author and screenwriter (he adapted several of his own books for film and wrote the screenplay for the 1999 film Tsatsiki, morsan och polisen).

Stark collaborated with the illustrators Anna Höglund and Mati Lepp.

From 1989 to 1998 he was an elected member of the Swedish Academy for Children's Books Svenska barnboksakademin. In 1998 he received the Nordic Children's Book Prize.

Stark was born and grew up in Stureby, Stockholm Municipality, which place features in several of his books. Stark's interest in writing started early; during his time at secondary school he was introduced to writing by his classmate Peter Curman, and in 1964 he wrote his first poetry Ett hål till livet. Following this, Stark's interest in writing for a career was greatly encouraged.

Reviews

[Clare · Rating 1 out of 5]

The first chapter is called "Naked Ladies" and it goes downhill from there.

[Anna Cała · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stuprocentowo chłopacka lektura. I jaka piękna postawa matki.

[Juxhin Deliu · Rating 2 out of 5]

La storia ruota attorno alle (a dir poco) scanzonate avventure di un bambino impacciato, Ulf, e il suo turbolento nuovo amico Percy, il quale porta sempre due fetide scarpe da ginnastica che sembrano avere dei poteri magici. Ulf riesce a ottenerle ma imparerà che bisogna star attento a ciò che si desidera. Le sue "marachellate" fanno sorridere, e potranno sicuramente intrattenere i ragazzini in età pre-puberale, anche se le vicende raccontate sono un po' troppo in là per la fascia di età indicata in copertina, col protagonista che sembra passarla troppo liscia.

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poor Ulf. He's always getting picked on or beaten up. And then there's Percy. He wins every fight. It's his shoes, Percy tells Ulf. For the right price, say for Ulf's fancy go-cart, Percy just might sell his worn out tennis shoes to Ulf.

Who is the target audience for this book? I'm not terribly sure it's a kid's book. Adults who like Jean Shepherd's book, In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash, would also like this one.

One of the 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up.

[Sunny_Parakeet Alice · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible, I read this for school a couple years back and it put me in the worst reading slump I have ever had. I loved reading and read very much, but this book made me completely stop for an entire year. It may be a classic, but its a horrible one.

[Moa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lästes för ett skolarbete. Helt okej bok, en del saker var bra andra saker var mindre bra.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this first when considering passing it to my 8yo, and I'm glad I did. As entertaining young Ulf's growing up passage is, it's not for this age group.

Definitely for 10+, as references to kissing girls, girlie mags, and the message of what stern stuff is in you is likely to be a bit beyond most young boys (unless the parents want to explain, and what's the point of that!)

[Giuseppe Stretti · Rating 1 out of 5]

Non riesco proprio a cogliere il fascino di questo libro. Tolte le "ragazze nude" (che ho trovato a dir poco di cattivo gusto) ma non vedo il senso della storia.

Percy frega il povero Ulf, vendendogli le sue logore scarpe da ginnastica in cambio del suo go cart e di una serie di altre cose, facendogli credere che siano scarpe magiche (Ulf gli chiede come faccia a fare a botte in quel modo... e Percy indica le scarpe). Al lettore è evidente che le scarpe non sono magiche e che Ulf si è fatto fregare, e lo stesso Percy cerca di fermarlo quando inizia a fare una serie di cose pericolose, tipo camminare sui binari del treno, convinto che le scarpe lo rendano invincibile. La mamma di Ulf, intanto, davanti a una serie di adulti che si lamentano del comportamento del figlio, resta cieca e sostiene lo abbiano scambiato con qualcun altro. Ok. Tutti ci aspettiamo che Ulf si accorga dell'inganno e diventi un ragazzino migliore, o che Percy glielo riveli e diventino amici davvero, oppure che la mamma apra gli occhi e li faccia aprire anche a lui... niente. Ulf resta "amico" di Percy, e la mamma resta nella sua beata ignoranza. Onestamente, non l'ho capita.

[Beverly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I agree with most of the negative reviews of this book; and along with some other reviewers, wonder why the main character never suffered any negative consequences for all the havoc that he caused. And the way his mother willfully blinded herself to what was happening was shameful.

This book was listed in the Ages 5 - 7 category in 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up. I was rather shocked and even outraged that this book was included in the 5 - 7 age list! This book should have been included in the 12+ list. The mention of pornographic magazines in the brother's cupboard confirms this, as 5-7 year olds may not even realize what the big deal is. I really have great doubts about Eccleshare's ability to properly figure out the age range for a book! I even have my doubts that she actually ever read it.

[Kristal · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ok, so I know part of the problem with this book is the choppy translation from Swedish to English. But that’s not all; I had a hard time trying to figure out what year this was based in- the author was born in the 1940s, yet ladies worse corsets in this book but people listened to CDs? It seemed weirdly inconsistent. And there was hardly any character development - I found I had very little empathy for every person in this book, even rooting for Ulf to get punished at the end-which he didn’t. There were no consequences for his awful behavior, and his mother was out to lunch in thinking her boy was some angel.

[LaProf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ti piacciono le avventure?
se la risposta è si, allora questo libro fa per te!
noi lo consigliamo a lettori principianti ,siccome è un libro molto fluido con un lessico non molto elevato; adatto sopra i dieci anni. Abbiamo trovato questo libro molto incalzante e coinvolgente.
Questo libro narra la storia di Ulf, un ragazzo che ha come amico un bullo di nome Percy, con il quale combinerà molti guai.
(Isma, Ale F, Tamara, Rebecca).

[Lydia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Percy takes advantage of Ulf and you therefore feel sad of Ulf. But the story takes a different point when Ulf become a whole new person and gains confidence because of the shoes, but that does not have to mean that they are magical.

[Eline · Rating 2 out of 5]

Voorgelezen (2026), had het nog van vroeger. Herinnerde me het als een leuk boek maar vind het vooral gedateerd. De helft van de hoofdstukken kan echt niet (meer), zeker niet voor de leeftijd die staat aangegeven. Dit boek mag weg uit mijn Lemniscaatcollectie.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Det var svårt att relatera till de här barnen. De var såna som jag aldrig någonsin hade velat vara vän med, och såna som jag aldrig någonsin skulle vilja att mina barn blev vän med heller.

[LetyDarcy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amo gli autori svedesi: non vogliono insegnare nulla. Raccontano l'infanzia e l'adolescenza così come è e basta.

[Gio · Rating 2 out of 5]

Inizialmente noioso, poi mi ha preso di più. Finale molto simpatico

[Parsley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love this author and I like this book, but it was just a little bit too uncomfortable for me

[Sw33t_heart89 · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5⭐️

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was in the recommended reading list of (1001 books to read to your children before they grow up). It was in the 5+ section. We have made it through A LOT of that section already, so I had little worries. This book though, how in the world did it get placed in this age range?! Everyone is mentioning the first chapter of naked ladies. But as it goes forward, the children smoke, lie, hurt each other and then twice sneak peaks at pornography stashed in the older brothers room. Then they again go and look at more naked ladies being fitted for corsets.

I have to admit I as an adult was entertained because much of it really does harken back to the reality of childhood, not just the made up looking in the review mirror version. But it is no excuse to recommend this as a 5 year old read aloud! Shameful.

[Sara Cantoni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un'altra grandissima prova della penna di Ulf Stark che, come suo solito, parla ai bambini e ai ragazzi ma, parallelamente, anche ai grandi che con loro vivono e si confrontano.

Una storia che parla di infanzia, quella vera e sincera, delle difficoltà della vita scolastica, della difficoltà di crescere e di trovare sé stessi fosse anche grazie a un paio di scarpe magiche (ma sono poi davvero magiche le scarpe di Percy?).

[Dark Luna Rose · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am seriously appalled by this book, what kids book would have children sneaking peeks at naked women and the phrase "look at those hooters" in it let alone by page 3!At least we didn't waste any more time on this piece of trash!

[Den ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not sure how to rate this one, but it is something like a 3,63.
Definitely deserves a review, though.

[Stephen Barker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I heard this author on New Zealand National Radio recently and thought I’d take a look… (see www.stephenbarker.co.nz for a short review).

[Melanie Lindstrom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Original and witty. I loved the long chapter titles. Not sure what age this is best for. Perhaps 11 plus.