Edwardo

Edwardo is the roughest, noisiest, nastiest boy in the whole wide world and it is not until some of his misdeeds go wrong (eg he pushes a boy backwards inadvertently saving him from being crushed by a falling lamp) and he finds himself being praised instead of being told off that he begins to see himself from a different perspective. Edwardo eventually becomes the loveliest boy in the whole wide world instead of the ‘horriblest’ despite being occasionally ‘a little’ rough, noisy and nasty.

Young readers will be shocked, fascinated and amused by Edwardo’s misdeeds whilst also identifying with his horriblest moments. At the same time they will be relieved (and also identify) with the Edwardo who now also has ‘loveliest’ moments. The apparent simplicity of Burningham’s sketchy scenes belies the drama and tension of the initial section in which accusing fingers are repeatedly pointed at Edwardo, culminating in his wholesale condemnation. From then on gentler narratives crowd the pages with humorously farfetched accounts of his redemption. A tour de force.