The Nannycatch Chronicles

by James Heneghan

A bit of black humour for primary school age kids who will appreciate the tongue-in-cheek tales of Uncle Possum in the Nannycatch Meadows. Poor Uncle Possum! Or should we say: poor animal folk of Nannycatch who have to put up with him. In the spirit of Uncle Remus, young readers will delight in these cheeky tales.

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

James Heneghan (born 1930) is a British Canadian author. Heneghan grew up Liverpool, England, and currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. He earned Canadian citizenship in 1963.

Series:
* The O'Brien Detective Agency

Awards:
* Arthur Ellis Award: Juvenile
o 1995 – Torn Away – Winner

* Sheila A. Egoff Children's Book Prize
o 1998 – Wish Me Luck – Winner
o 2001 – The Grave – Winner
o 2003 – Flood – Winner

Reviews

[Raquel Pilar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is weird.
The idea, I believe, was to show how normal death is and how important it is to value life, I guess. The animals of the Great Forest are as "humans" as us in the story.
It started revolting and I thought it would be like that until the end (thanks to Uncle Possum, who is an ignorant), but it that is not what happened (though, if it happened, I wouldn't complain, I would just find it a little strange).

[Metthea Maddern · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very cute collection of short tales featuring an awesome possum and his friends that live in Nannycatch Meadows. The simple but adorable illustrations, sweet characters (aside from grumpy Uncle Possum) and the names of the various places in The Great Forest (Grotty Bottom, Boogle Hole, and Cringle End, to name a few) come together to create a charming story that would be a great bedtime read aloud for young children.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quirky tales about funny animals,
Their trials and tribulations.
Cute little illustrations
And sometimes blunt descriptions
Particularly if horrible grumpy uncle possum
Was about!
Loved the names of places like Grotty Bottom!
Plenty of smiles and laughter
And a little sadness too.