Shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Book Prize 2009
Another brilliantly funny story from an incredibly funny author. Josh is not impressed when he has to write a poem for homework so he decides to ‘borrow’ one from a book. His teacher is impressed, so impressed in fact that he is sent on a poetry course, which means missing his favourite activity – football. And Josh is even less amused when he discovers the person running the course is the man who wrote the poem he stole. Josh is in more trouble than you can imagine.
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Josh cheats on his homework, and copies a poem. But it's too good: everyone thinks Josh is a genius and he is sent on a poetry course. Worse still, the tutor is the ghost of the man whose poem he stole, and he isn't happy!
Hilda Offen was born in Surrey and lived for the first part of her life on an entirely self-sufficient small-holding. She attended Reigate School of Art for three years and, when she had saved enough money by working for a printing firm, she became a freelance illustrator and worked for magazines and newspapers. She then did an English degree at University College, London which she enjoyed very much. She illustrated many collections of Nursery Rhymes and Fairy Stories and wrote her first book RITA THE RESCUER. She followed this with two others, OLD WILLIAM AND THE SEVENTH SHEEP and MRS. LAMPKINS LODGER. She then started writing and illustrating her own books and has so far written nine. She works at home, but does some teaching in colleges which she values as it gives her a chance to keep in touch with the children she is writing for. She believes that "any book for children should be capable of firing the imagination." Hilda Offen lives in Sussex.
