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Give Peas a Chance
Give fun a chance! Surprise your mum with a chainsaw, be a bigger star than Tom Cruise, save the world with a plate of vegetables, start your new life in a taxi, rescue your family with a tomato, send your dad into a panic with a tractor, do a good deed with a paper bag on your head, pack your suitcase for a trip to the spleen, upset your auntie with ten kilos of chocolate, swap a bomb for three ice creams on a steam train . . . and lots more.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 11, 2007
16 people are currently reading
84 people want to read
About the author
Morris Gleitzman
121 books976 followersMorris began his writing career as a screenwriter, and wrote his first children's novel in 1985. His brilliantly comic style has endeared him to children and adults alike, and he is now one of Australia's most successful authors, both internationally and at home. He was born in England in 1953 and emigrated to Australia in 1969 so he could escape from school and become a Very Famous Writer.
Before realising that dream, he had a colourful career as paperboy, bottle-shop shelf-stacker, department store Santa Claus, frozen chicken defroster, fashion-design assistant and sugar-mill employee. In between he managed to gain a degree in Professional Writing at the Canberra College of Advanced Education. Later he became sole writer for three award-winning and top-rating seasons with the TV comedy series The Norman Gunston Show.
Morris wrote a number of feature film and telemovie screenplays, including The Other Facts of Life and Second Childhood, both produced by The Australian Children's Television Foundation. The Other Facts of Life won an AWGIE Award for the Best Original Children's Film Script.
He also wrote live stage material for people such as Rolf Harris, Pamela Stephenson and the Governor General of Australia. Morris is well known to many people through his semi-autobiographical columns in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald magazine, Good Weekend, which he wrote for nine years.
But the majority of Morris' accolades are for his hugely popular children's books. One of his most successful books for young people is Two Weeks with the Queen, an international bestseller which was also adapted into a play by Mary Morris. The play had many successful seasons in Australia and was then produced at the National Theatre in London in 1995 directed by Alan Ayckbourn, and also in South Africa, Canada, Japan and the USA.
All his other books have been shortlisted for or have won numerous children's book prizes. These include The Other Facts of Life, Second Childhood, Misery Guts, Worry Warts, Puppy Fat, Blabber Mouth, Sticky Beak, Belly Flop, Water Wings, Bumface, Gift Of The Gab, Toad Rage, Wicked! and Deadly!, two six-part novels written in collaboration with Paul Jennings, Adults Only, Toad Heaven, Boy Overboard, Teacher's Pet, Toad Away, Girl Underground, Worm Story, Once, Aristotle's Nostril, Doubting Thomas, Give Peas A Chance, Then, Toad Surprise, Grace, Now, Too Small To Fail, and his latest book, Pizza Cake. Morris' children's books have been published in the UK, the USA, Germany, Italy, Japan, France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Indonesia and Czechoslovakia, Russia and China.
Before realising that dream, he had a colourful career as paperboy, bottle-shop shelf-stacker, department store Santa Claus, frozen chicken defroster, fashion-design assistant and sugar-mill employee. In between he managed to gain a degree in Professional Writing at the Canberra College of Advanced Education. Later he became sole writer for three award-winning and top-rating seasons with the TV comedy series The Norman Gunston Show.
Morris wrote a number of feature film and telemovie screenplays, including The Other Facts of Life and Second Childhood, both produced by The Australian Children's Television Foundation. The Other Facts of Life won an AWGIE Award for the Best Original Children's Film Script.
He also wrote live stage material for people such as Rolf Harris, Pamela Stephenson and the Governor General of Australia. Morris is well known to many people through his semi-autobiographical columns in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald magazine, Good Weekend, which he wrote for nine years.
But the majority of Morris' accolades are for his hugely popular children's books. One of his most successful books for young people is Two Weeks with the Queen, an international bestseller which was also adapted into a play by Mary Morris. The play had many successful seasons in Australia and was then produced at the National Theatre in London in 1995 directed by Alan Ayckbourn, and also in South Africa, Canada, Japan and the USA.
All his other books have been shortlisted for or have won numerous children's book prizes. These include The Other Facts of Life, Second Childhood, Misery Guts, Worry Warts, Puppy Fat, Blabber Mouth, Sticky Beak, Belly Flop, Water Wings, Bumface, Gift Of The Gab, Toad Rage, Wicked! and Deadly!, two six-part novels written in collaboration with Paul Jennings, Adults Only, Toad Heaven, Boy Overboard, Teacher's Pet, Toad Away, Girl Underground, Worm Story, Once, Aristotle's Nostril, Doubting Thomas, Give Peas A Chance, Then, Toad Surprise, Grace, Now, Too Small To Fail, and his latest book, Pizza Cake. Morris' children's books have been published in the UK, the USA, Germany, Italy, Japan, France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Indonesia and Czechoslovakia, Russia and China.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
April 24, 2021
This was a collection of 12 very short stories.
Some were better than others.
Some were better than others.
June 22, 2025
Give Peas a Chance is an anthology of short stories, written by Morris Gleitzman. I read the audiobook version, which was narrated by Morris Gleitzman and Ruth Schoenheimer. There are a range of stories, each focusing on different characters and adventures or problems they’re dealing with.
(I listened to the audiobook version, so I apologise if I have misspelt any names or words from the book.) I had been keeping an eye on the books available by this author on BorrowBox because I had read Digging Up Dad And Other Hopeful (And Funny) Stories, written and narrated by the same author. Generally, I do like the book. Though, I’ll admit that I don’t like all of them. Such as “My First Ever Go At Bomb Disposal” felt really awkward and I didn’t like that one.
The stories are often told through the perspective of children. And I feel like the author gives them a good, innocent tone to their thoughts. Even when they mess stuff up, they’re generally trying to be good and helpful in some way, though they often don’t understand why things are problematic or that the stuff they’re doing is bad. Plus, there’s often a good imaginative solution to each of the problems the children are facing.
One of my favourite stories of the book is “Why My Dad Could Be Prime Minister”. The kid, Jack, is saying how good his dad is and he’s happy with his dad. But the dad does have some bad habits. He’s mentioning how he’s been told that his mother will be back late, because she went out to the movie, and he’s suspicious because he thinks his dad is lying about where his mother has gone. I think it’s a great example of how one of the characters is trying to understand the scenarios of the story in an innocent way, and I appreciate that there’s a happy ending. Also, I really liked the story “Odd Socks”. It begins with a class who get the words “fax” and “sax” wrong because the words rhyme with a classmate’s name, which is “Macques”; pronounced “Max”… He is upset with his parents that they would choose to name him something like that. The story had a bit of sadness to it, but I definitely appreciated a happy ending there, too. And the “101 Text Messages You Must Read Before You Die” is definitely a good one. It’s about a dad who accidentally messed up his daughter’s debate the night before and now she’s gone missing. He writes text messages to her, informing her of his attempts to find her. I think it was a really sweet book. A little bit awkward considering that he was texting and driving. But I liked that it turned out okay and the ending gave me a bit of a laugh.
Overall, I liked the book. I think the stories were generally quite creative. And the author has provided all sorts of wild scenarios for the characters, with equally as incredible ways to solve their problems. I think there are a really good range of characters, and I’m sure many readers can find at least one or two characters that they can find interesting, and I’m sure most readers will find at least a few stories that they enjoy.
(I listened to the audiobook version, so I apologise if I have misspelt any names or words from the book.) I had been keeping an eye on the books available by this author on BorrowBox because I had read Digging Up Dad And Other Hopeful (And Funny) Stories, written and narrated by the same author. Generally, I do like the book. Though, I’ll admit that I don’t like all of them. Such as “My First Ever Go At Bomb Disposal” felt really awkward and I didn’t like that one.
The stories are often told through the perspective of children. And I feel like the author gives them a good, innocent tone to their thoughts. Even when they mess stuff up, they’re generally trying to be good and helpful in some way, though they often don’t understand why things are problematic or that the stuff they’re doing is bad. Plus, there’s often a good imaginative solution to each of the problems the children are facing.
One of my favourite stories of the book is “Why My Dad Could Be Prime Minister”. The kid, Jack, is saying how good his dad is and he’s happy with his dad. But the dad does have some bad habits. He’s mentioning how he’s been told that his mother will be back late, because she went out to the movie, and he’s suspicious because he thinks his dad is lying about where his mother has gone. I think it’s a great example of how one of the characters is trying to understand the scenarios of the story in an innocent way, and I appreciate that there’s a happy ending. Also, I really liked the story “Odd Socks”. It begins with a class who get the words “fax” and “sax” wrong because the words rhyme with a classmate’s name, which is “Macques”; pronounced “Max”… He is upset with his parents that they would choose to name him something like that. The story had a bit of sadness to it, but I definitely appreciated a happy ending there, too. And the “101 Text Messages You Must Read Before You Die” is definitely a good one. It’s about a dad who accidentally messed up his daughter’s debate the night before and now she’s gone missing. He writes text messages to her, informing her of his attempts to find her. I think it was a really sweet book. A little bit awkward considering that he was texting and driving. But I liked that it turned out okay and the ending gave me a bit of a laugh.
Overall, I liked the book. I think the stories were generally quite creative. And the author has provided all sorts of wild scenarios for the characters, with equally as incredible ways to solve their problems. I think there are a really good range of characters, and I’m sure many readers can find at least one or two characters that they can find interesting, and I’m sure most readers will find at least a few stories that they enjoy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 13, 2020
Give fame a chance, Morris Gleitzman
I loved the fact that the stories kept on changing and no 2 stories were alike. Every single chapter story is bound to bring hordes of laughter to all ages. My favourite story in this book is the one that this book is named after, Give Peas A Chance because Ben tries to save the world by going on strike to make countries get rid of all their weapons. Yes, this truly is a wonderful read.
I loved the fact that the stories kept on changing and no 2 stories were alike. Every single chapter story is bound to bring hordes of laughter to all ages. My favourite story in this book is the one that this book is named after, Give Peas A Chance because Ben tries to save the world by going on strike to make countries get rid of all their weapons. Yes, this truly is a wonderful read.
September 17, 2025
There are some good stories in this. Mostly read by the author.
March 16, 2015
Wonderful! Fresh, funny and varied, I was looking for a selection of short stories for a junior book club at the library - definitely found it in Gleitzman's collection.
These 15 tales vary from quite sweet and moving to rude and hilarious. My group will love the story set in a nose, the story based entirely on text messages from a dad, a boy stopping war and violence by refusing to eat his vegetables.
At under 200 pages, it is within reach of able readers from age 8 onwards, each story only 8-12 pages in general. Set in Australia there are culturally-specific terms but nothing too tricky.
Here is a quick breakdown:
1. Mission Impossible - Tom Cruise is referenced regularly as a boys parents leave him in charge of their hotel while they and their babies try to catch up on sleep. How will he kept some noisy customers quiet?
2. Paparazzi - took me a while to understand what was happening, it starts as a group's imaginings of photographers everywhere but ends with a very moving moment that highlights friendship.
3. Greenhouse Gas - a bit rude (a lot of blow-off talk) and a little dark. A boy and his granddad refuse to accept an award - why won't they?
4. Think Big - a boy tries to make his mum feel better about her weight, funny look at his reasoning skills.
5. Odd Socques - poor Macques hates the spelling of his name. Will his parents change it? This takes a strange turn but is great.
6. Ashes to Ashes - a young cricket fan wants to scatter his granddad's ashes on a cricket ground, while his friend is only interested in meeting girls. Maybe one can help the other...
7. 100 Text Messages you must Read Before you Die - so, so funny. Dad learns to text to his daughter. Great story told in texts.
8. Give Peas a Chance - can world peace be achieved by a worldwide child vegetable strike? Genius!
9. Good Dog - dog and his owner teach an impatient dad a lesson at a birthday party.
10. Cornflakes - all about the tiny creatures inside our bodies, sweet.
11. My first ever go at bomb disposal - I cried. Mum and son on train, with no entertainment. He sees a man who he think may be a terrorist. Lots of emotion in such a short tale.
12. Germ Meets Worm - nose germs to on holiday...to the stomach. Will it be everything they hoped? I live this sort of story.
13. Snugglepots and Cuddlepies - superb look at rivalry among daycare, older kids treating peers differently because of the nursery they went to. Good for schools.
14. Why my dad could be prime minister - fireman lies to his kids about mum being at the cinema. So where was she? Tenuous link to the title, but still a lovely tale.
15. So Unjust - great way to end the book, a story within a story about a girl who likes books with twists and tries to manufacture one into her own life.
A really great selection, looking forward to discussing them with my group. Would make excellent 'end of day' reads in KS2, and a good way in to Gleitzman's more lengthy books (Once / Then / Now / Loyal Creatures I'd recommend).
These 15 tales vary from quite sweet and moving to rude and hilarious. My group will love the story set in a nose, the story based entirely on text messages from a dad, a boy stopping war and violence by refusing to eat his vegetables.
At under 200 pages, it is within reach of able readers from age 8 onwards, each story only 8-12 pages in general. Set in Australia there are culturally-specific terms but nothing too tricky.
Here is a quick breakdown:
1. Mission Impossible - Tom Cruise is referenced regularly as a boys parents leave him in charge of their hotel while they and their babies try to catch up on sleep. How will he kept some noisy customers quiet?
2. Paparazzi - took me a while to understand what was happening, it starts as a group's imaginings of photographers everywhere but ends with a very moving moment that highlights friendship.
3. Greenhouse Gas - a bit rude (a lot of blow-off talk) and a little dark. A boy and his granddad refuse to accept an award - why won't they?
4. Think Big - a boy tries to make his mum feel better about her weight, funny look at his reasoning skills.
5. Odd Socques - poor Macques hates the spelling of his name. Will his parents change it? This takes a strange turn but is great.
6. Ashes to Ashes - a young cricket fan wants to scatter his granddad's ashes on a cricket ground, while his friend is only interested in meeting girls. Maybe one can help the other...
7. 100 Text Messages you must Read Before you Die - so, so funny. Dad learns to text to his daughter. Great story told in texts.
8. Give Peas a Chance - can world peace be achieved by a worldwide child vegetable strike? Genius!
9. Good Dog - dog and his owner teach an impatient dad a lesson at a birthday party.
10. Cornflakes - all about the tiny creatures inside our bodies, sweet.
11. My first ever go at bomb disposal - I cried. Mum and son on train, with no entertainment. He sees a man who he think may be a terrorist. Lots of emotion in such a short tale.
12. Germ Meets Worm - nose germs to on holiday...to the stomach. Will it be everything they hoped? I live this sort of story.
13. Snugglepots and Cuddlepies - superb look at rivalry among daycare, older kids treating peers differently because of the nursery they went to. Good for schools.
14. Why my dad could be prime minister - fireman lies to his kids about mum being at the cinema. So where was she? Tenuous link to the title, but still a lovely tale.
15. So Unjust - great way to end the book, a story within a story about a girl who likes books with twists and tries to manufacture one into her own life.
A really great selection, looking forward to discussing them with my group. Would make excellent 'end of day' reads in KS2, and a good way in to Gleitzman's more lengthy books (Once / Then / Now / Loyal Creatures I'd recommend).
September 3, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-141-32411-1
Publishers: Puffin Books, 2007.
Morris Gleitzman writes politically controversial books talking about tough topics about life such as overcoming obstacles, being kind and honest and considering morals. In this collection of stories he takes serious issues that affect us and finds the funny element in all of them.
Characters: There are a variety of children and celebrities and families in this collection of stories.
Plot: Morris Gleitzman writes about Jake and his encounters with Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise when running a motel. Kevin, Holly and Madonna prepare for a photo shoot. Dougie Webber and Grandpa accept an award for modifying tomatoes. Tracy Spicer writes a science project. These are only a few characters from the collection of short stories in this book.
Language: Humorous tales with some complex language structures and plenty of dialogue between characters with different accents. Generally quite a lot of detail and the writer adds depth to the characters and sets the scenes well. The action is fast paced and children read with ease and dip into the book to complete reading a story quite easily.
Interaction: Children can read the stories and reflect on situations they have experienced which focus on making the right decisions, considering moral values and having greater awareness of how their actions have consequences on others. Children can discuss their fears, personal desires and wishes and share these in whole class discussion. Some of the stories have themes about future careers and written work can involve short writing tasks about aspirations, goals and how to achieve them.
Format: A collection of short stories written by Morris Gleitzman.
Publishers: Puffin Books, 2007.
Morris Gleitzman writes politically controversial books talking about tough topics about life such as overcoming obstacles, being kind and honest and considering morals. In this collection of stories he takes serious issues that affect us and finds the funny element in all of them.
Characters: There are a variety of children and celebrities and families in this collection of stories.
Plot: Morris Gleitzman writes about Jake and his encounters with Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise when running a motel. Kevin, Holly and Madonna prepare for a photo shoot. Dougie Webber and Grandpa accept an award for modifying tomatoes. Tracy Spicer writes a science project. These are only a few characters from the collection of short stories in this book.
Language: Humorous tales with some complex language structures and plenty of dialogue between characters with different accents. Generally quite a lot of detail and the writer adds depth to the characters and sets the scenes well. The action is fast paced and children read with ease and dip into the book to complete reading a story quite easily.
Interaction: Children can read the stories and reflect on situations they have experienced which focus on making the right decisions, considering moral values and having greater awareness of how their actions have consequences on others. Children can discuss their fears, personal desires and wishes and share these in whole class discussion. Some of the stories have themes about future careers and written work can involve short writing tasks about aspirations, goals and how to achieve them.
Format: A collection of short stories written by Morris Gleitzman.
January 21, 2016
The book I read was Give peas a Chance. The autor is Morris Gleitzman. He was born on January 9, 1953. He was born inn Sleaford, Lincolnshire, England but his nationality is Australian. This book is fiction but it could really happen in real life.
This book has a lot of different types is stories but I wil tell you about my favorite story Give Peas a Chance. So there was a boy and he said he wouldn't eat his veggies except if all the guns were gone in this world. He said this to his class mates and then the story got all around. But the boy would get more nad more veggies on his plate. Some countries started breaking the weapons bit its took a long time for every country to finish. Then when all the countries had no more weapons the boy had to eat all the veggies.
I think this book made me feel interested in doing what they were doing. I also didn't sometimes like that they never really finish a story with a proper ending.The book seemed like it was real but it was actually not . This story does not teach anything. I think that primary should read this book maybe grade 3-5. I also think it's for both genders
This book has a lot of different types is stories but I wil tell you about my favorite story Give Peas a Chance. So there was a boy and he said he wouldn't eat his veggies except if all the guns were gone in this world. He said this to his class mates and then the story got all around. But the boy would get more nad more veggies on his plate. Some countries started breaking the weapons bit its took a long time for every country to finish. Then when all the countries had no more weapons the boy had to eat all the veggies.
I think this book made me feel interested in doing what they were doing. I also didn't sometimes like that they never really finish a story with a proper ending.The book seemed like it was real but it was actually not . This story does not teach anything. I think that primary should read this book maybe grade 3-5. I also think it's for both genders
December 23, 2016
ok...take two as my first review disappeared.
this was only ok. 2 1/2 stars. the collection starts strongly with mission impossible, paparazzi and greenhouse gas, but there are few gems after that. I also loved 101 text messages and give peas a chance (until the final resolution). the author's note at the end made the whole collection just sound like an ad/teaser for the rest of his books. worth reading for the few gems. (apologies for the lack of capitals...goodreads and my phone don't play nicely sometimes)
this was only ok. 2 1/2 stars. the collection starts strongly with mission impossible, paparazzi and greenhouse gas, but there are few gems after that. I also loved 101 text messages and give peas a chance (until the final resolution). the author's note at the end made the whole collection just sound like an ad/teaser for the rest of his books. worth reading for the few gems. (apologies for the lack of capitals...goodreads and my phone don't play nicely sometimes)
September 14, 2011
1) this book is 3 (actually more) short story's by the same author
2) i decided to read this because i saw it on my book shelf and thought it looked good.
3) i liked this book because it was just like normal life except with a twist (you may notice i say this in all my reviews that is because i like it like this way)
4) i didn't like that all the story's had different characters because i would just get used to them when the story finished
5) I would recommend this to all young readers
2) i decided to read this because i saw it on my book shelf and thought it looked good.
3) i liked this book because it was just like normal life except with a twist (you may notice i say this in all my reviews that is because i like it like this way)
4) i didn't like that all the story's had different characters because i would just get used to them when the story finished
5) I would recommend this to all young readers
October 29, 2010
it was ok some of the other stories went on for a bit too long
July 25, 2012
HILARIOUS! Morris is brilliant : )
August 16, 2012
A great collection of short stories -- some funny, some serious, but all interesting. Fun exposure to Australian terminology.
January 5, 2013
Morris Gleitzman is funny and I love his books. His short stories were entertaining and good read-alouds.
My favorite by far was Germ Meets Worm.
My favorite by far was Germ Meets Worm.
May 2, 2013
Fantastic stories for kids.
March 26, 2014
I love this book because of all the different short stories.
April 10, 2013
Give Peas a Chance was okay, but I lost interest in the story so I stopped reading.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews