Running Wilde; Wilde Child

These new titles in the hilarious 'Wilde Family' series certainly live up to their expectations. The humour is fast and furous from start to finish, and Oldfield's witty and apt dialogue (that does not talk down to its readers) is apparent the whole time. The line drawings match the text well.

In Running Wilde, there is the little matter of a fun run to raise funds for an extension to the playgroup building. Jade and Gran sign up to do it with initial misgivings, and readers will be amused and surprised by who eventually appears on the starting line for the run. Oldfield's familiarity with the whole idea of training semiwilling or at times downright unwilling volunteers will strike a chord of recongnition with any adult who reads the book.

In Wilde Child, the five sisters are getting increasingly fed up with their baby brother, who seems to manage to sabotage almost any activity going on. Various ruses are employed to deal with the matter, which include non co-operation and trying to sell him. Throw in a snowball fight, and one or two trips to the supermarket and you will begin to appreciate the mayhem that will keep children cheerfully turning pages in this story. What happens when Kyle falls unexpectedly ill proves to be a turning point - some may find what happens too predictable, but Oldfield makes a useful point about the sisters' reaction that other children may identify with and learn from.