posted on 10 Apr 2018

Noah Scape by Guy Bass, illustrated by Steve May

When I read this I was reminded of a little boy that I used to teach many years ago who was obsessed with talking about pipes ( the utilities kind not the smoking ones) at every opportunity. He has hopefully become a very successful plumber because he knew so much even at the age of eight. This very funny story is about another little boy who this time only ever wants to talk about dinosaurs. His teacher and the other children in Owl class at his school in the sleepy village of Dundlewick are not so enthusiastic and groan every time he opens his mouth.  Apart from being an expert on dinosaurs, Noah Scape is also a big fan of eating spaghetti and tomato sauce and cannot understand why this delicious meal is only on the school menu one day a week.  Every day he has the same exchange with the exasperated dinner lady, Mrs Tuckin who reminds him that his favourite meal is always just served on a Monday, no matter how often he asks. She quotes the wise words of The Rolling Stones at him:

‘You can’t always get what you want, but if you try, sometimes you might get what you need’

Although he doesn’t really understand what this means, he decides that he possibly needs more people just like him who share his fascinating interests and tastes. And so the strange magic begins because when he arrives at school the next day he finds that there is an identical Noah sitting at his desk. The two boys spend an excellent day together talking knowledgeably about dinosaurs and enjoying their favourite meal. It has to be said that everybody else, including his parents, is rather startled by the appearance of an identical boy but seem to take it in their stride. But things become far more complicated when the two Noahs arrive at school the next morning to find that there are another two waiting for them. This doubling of Noahs continues to happen every day until by day eight there are 256 Noahs, more than any other children in the school! Organisational changes have to be made as there is no room for them all at the school and there are rumours that they may have to relocate to a warehouse. The curriculum has been affected so that now all the children have to learn about dinosaurs and huge crates of spaghetti and tomato sauce are delivered at the school gates. The extraordinary events have been dubbed ‘The Dundlewick Doubling’ by the media and everyone is fascinated to read all about it.

The moral is of course ‘be careful what you wish for’ and although at first he is pleased with having so many compatriots, poor Noah is very unhappy about the fact that all his namesakes are starting to disagree with him and becoming quite assertive. What can be done to sort out this mess?

He eventually realises that he needs to escape from the Noahs and to begin to get to know the other children, discover the richness of a more nuanced life and even to try eating some other food. As to the doubling dilemma, the readers will probably have to decide for themselves as to the solution. I really enjoyed reading this hilarious tale brought to life by the comic book style illustrations by Steve May. This is yet another triumph from the publishers Barrington Stoke who always provide entertaining stories beautifully packaged to appeal to even the most reluctant readers. 

 

Karen Argent

April 2018