Whoops! I did it again! (Whoops! But It Wasn't Me - Lauren Child)

Member Name: tb4ms

Product:	Whoops! But It Wasn't Me - Lauren Child
Date:	23/06/07 (71 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A great children's story with a moral to it.

Disadvantages: None

¥¥¥ Charlie and Lola ¥¥¥

Charlie and Lola are a very popular television / cbeebies characters.
The siblings were first introduced in ' I will not ever, NEVER eat a tomato' and first aired on television in the autumn of 2005.
Charlie is a boy of approximately 7 years with a younger sister called Lola.

The creator of Charlie and Lola, Lauren Child has created quite a lot of books in a short space of time, some of which I have listed below:
* I absolutely must do colouring-in now!
* I am not sleepy and I will NOT go to bed.
* Snow is my favourite and my best.
* I am TOO absolutely small for school

∞∞∞ The Story ∞∞∞

This is a great story to use to demonstrate to children that if you make a mistake and are genuinely sorry for it and tell the truth then you don’t always get in to huge trouble…. Obviously dependent upon what the severity of the mistake or naughty thing!

Like most of the books in this series the story is told through Charlie who introduces his sister, Lola as ‘small and very funny’.

Lola likes to play with Charlie’s things which he admits he doesn’t usually mind. However on this occasion, Charlie has made a rocket and in his own words it is ‘the best thing I have ever made’.

Due to the fact that he has spent hours upon hours making it and knowing what little fingers and hands are like, he specifically tells Lola NOT TO TOUCH IT! Asking her to double and even triple promise.

Charlie goes out to play with his friend and suggests that Lola plays with Soren Lorensen, her imaginary friend, so she does exactly that! They have a great time but the game turns round to them really needing the rocket to transport Ellie the elephant back to elephant land!
Now Soren Lorensen is so, so persuasive that Lola climbs up high, reaches up for the rocket and ‘WHOOPS!” drops it and it breaks in to tiny little pieces.

Charlie returns and is understandably furious. Lola denies breaking it and Charlie shouts even louder, she even blames Soren Lorensen and comes up with an tale as imaginative as her friend!

Charlie threatens to tell Mum and at this point, Lola and Soren realise that it may be best to tell the truth and to say sorry and that is exactly what she does. Charlie accepts her apology as he realises that she truly is sorry and is at least telling the truth!

Charlie repairs the rocket and ends with “Don’t touch it!”

It is then up to the reader to decide whether or not Lola would touch it again or has she learned her lesson?

¥¥¥ The illustrations and Format ¥¥¥

There is quite a lot of text in this book and is told by Charlie, the older brother who introduces the theme for the story and his sister. Most of the story is told in dialogue and there is quite a lot of 'bold' type used to stress and emphasise some of it when reading it aloud.

The text is rarely in the same position on each page, so not great for emergent readers if reading it alone but it makes it look at lot more interesting for the reader.

Lauren Child's illustrations are so simple yet very effective. The children are very simply drawn almost like some of the 6 - 7 year olds I'm teaching at the moment would be happy with. She's brilliant at capturing the feelings of the children, using their facial expressions and in particular their huge, huge eyes!

There are also quite a lot of actual photos used along with her own illustrations, not unlike the ones found on microsoft clipart, e.g. when Charlie is talking about the things he used to make the superstructure there are photos of ‘real’ yoghurt pots etc..

The colours used are very rich and vibrant, instantly appealing to very young children.

Lauren Child's discussion about how she produces the illustrations: ' I use a computer for a lot of the work. I put together backgrounds made up of photographs, collages etc. After that I superimpose the figures'.

It is suggested that the age range that this book is suitable for is 4-8, but I would certainly not rule out reading it to younger, pre-school children. This would obviously be dependent upon their levels of concentration but this would appeal to many as they may recognise the characters from the tv series.

¤¤¤ My Verdict ¤¤¤

This is the third of fourth of the 'Charlie and Lola' books that I have bought.

They thoroughly enjoyed it and a lot of discussion took place as a result of this book which is always a good thing.
We were able to use it as a basis for PSE sessions, talking about a number of issues that arise from the book:
~ The importance of telling the truth.
~ The importance of being genuinely sorry.
~ How people are often able to forgive you.
~ When people ask you not to touch something that is precious to them, you really, really shouldn’t touch it!

¥¥¥ Price ¥¥¥

My hardcover, ISBN: 0-141-38240-6 was £7.99
Amazon are selling the following used and new copies:
Hardcovers from £1.50
Paperbacks from just 83p

Summary: A great children's story book which is hugely popular!