Hello, Fred ¦ Fred Again

Well, what do you make of a character in a book who drops his trousers in public to prove that he really is a boy (despite having long golden curls), swears because his dad did yesterday, lies to his best friend and runs away? My children made a great fuss of him, that's what!

These satisfyingly true-to-life stories about Fred (six years and six months old) manage to avoid being vulgar, but are full of the sort of slightly risqué humour that youngsters love. The translation from the original German leads to occasional culture differences - for example, Fred cannot read because he's not yet at school. . . which puts our obsession with reading before seven into an interesting perspective.

Just right for young fluent readers or perfect to read aloud. Every classroom should meet Fred.