Thursday, April 2, 2020

Ted Rules the World by Frank Cottrell Boyce




2015, first published 2008,  


This book is produced by Barrington Stoke. This publisher asks established writers to compose stories and then they adjust them to suit the reader. This is one of their Little Gems. These texts offer several aids to the struggling reader:  short chapters, double –spacing, text formatted ragged right, a plain font with simple ‘a’s and ‘g’s, and numerous full-colour pictures which illustrate and aid understanding.  The text can be defined as a high-low.  The content is for a mature primary school child but the text is for a less confident reader.  A notice at the end of the book reminds us that these texts are tested by young people.  

The story explores some quite complex issues in a fun way. A female, populist Prime Minister tries to please the average person.  They use Ted as a test case.  However, he is not quite as average as he at first appears.  He is a redhead. This is a virtue, not a problem. But whilst he is deemed to be average several changes happen in his favour.

Ted has to learn a few life lessons.  For example if life is made easy for him it will become harsher for others. If red-heads are favoured what happens to the blonds?      

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