I am a huge advocate of funny books and promoting more diverse humorous titles in school and home libraries. That’s why I was so thrilled to be asked to champion one of the titles for this year’s Lollies (The Laugh Out Loud Book Awards 2020), run by Scholastic with Michael Rosen as head judge.

The story revolves around the tricky sibling relationship between space-loving Stan and his disgusting younger brother Fred. Stan is struggling to see what he and his dinosaur-mad brother have in common so uses his love of pie charts and Venn diagrams to help them find some common ground.

Stan finds his brotherly love put to the test when he’s forced to choose between saving Fred’s beloved dinosaur (skeleton), Rory, when it’s threatened with eviction from the local museum. Or, taking part in the science fair and possibly winning himself a much longed for telescope.  Will he manage to save the day and discover some things in common with his little brother on the way?

Book Boy and I both enjoyed this book.  He laughed out loud at the grosser incidents in the story and loved the clever use of various charts and diagrams to explain situations in the story. For me, the book accurately portrayed the bickering, competing and farts which are all part and parcel of being the mother of sons. But most importantly, it showed that beneath all the snot and 3am wake-up calls, there is a fierce core of brotherly love which will override all that in the face of adversity. An added bonus is that as well as providing plenty of belly laughs, this book is also packed full of facts about dinosaurs and Space.

You can vote for Planet Stan to win HERE and listen to my podcast interview with Elaine and illustrator, Chris, HERE!

Remember to follow the Lollies blog tour using #Lollies2020 for more fantastic reviews, giveaways and interviews.

Library Girl.