A daft rhyming caper about the misfortunes of Poor Barry. Poor Barry is very accident prone, a fact that isn’t helped by the rather clueless adults in his life. One accident swiftly follows another and the illustrations show Barry is now a rather sorry sight trapped in a full body cast. However his friends are on hand to do as much as they can to keep him out of their teacher’s way and further mischief. The rhyming throughout dives the story onwards and makes this quite a pacey read. Although the rhyming style means that the story is told in a roundabout way instead of more directly, the effect is comical, with extra little details included to add to the humour. The book starts out with each double spread offering one page of text and one full page illustration. This changes occasionally throughout the book but there’s always plenty of illustrations to delight younger readers and might make this a nice quick story for more reluctant readers to whizz through. I liked that the story was told from the perspectives of one of Barry’s classmates as this allows for the kindness and empathy towards Barry, (as well as some humour at his unlucky experiences) to shine through without needing to be stated outright. This is a quick, entertaining book for readers from middle grade up to teens.
Fun-filled rhyming story book, for children 9 to 11 years, jam packed with full-page comical illustrations. Dive into the wacky world of accident-prone Poor Barry, one misadventure after another. His crazy teacher’s “awesome” ideas only add to his injuries. Friendship and kindness are predominant themes. It is left to his friends to rescue him as the adults are as clueless as Poor Barry.
Encouraging her son to read poetry ignited Maryann's hidden passion for writing her own: aimed at children nine and above, to make reading fun and impart important moral values about kindness and friendship in relatable ways. Her authorship journey begins with The Misadventures of Poor Barry. Maryann is a retired healthcare practitioner living in South Wales. Any time left after sharing lots with her grandchildren and gardening is spent reading.
