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*****= An all-time favorite
****  = Outstanding
***    = Above average
**      = Enjoyable
*        = Good, with reservations

cover

***The Legend of Spud Murphy

by Eoin Colfer

illustrated by Glenn McCoy

Reviewed January 10, 2005.
Miramax Books (Hyperion), New York, 2004.  95 pages.
Available at Sembach Library (JF COL).

Here’s a beginning chapter book with plenty of humor by the author of Artemis Fowl.

Will and his older brother have been sentenced to spend three afternoons a week at, horror of horrors, the library.  This isn’t just any ordinary library.  This library is the realm of the legendary librarian Spud Murphy.  People say she has a Spud Gun and shoots spuds at any kid who dares to make a sound.  Will’s three little brothers got out of it by doing their angel stunt of batting their blue eyes and letting their bottom lips wobble a bit.

At the library, Marty and Will are told to stay on the carpet in the children’s section.  Marty thinks he can outwit Spud Murphy, but he underestimates the dread librarian.  After he moves books to the wrong spots on the shelves, his punishment was so funny, I had to read it out loud to my sons.  Of course, eventually they find that a library does have some compensations.

This is a fun book that’s short (five chapters) and has lots of pictures.  It’s not intimidating, but it tells a good story, so it’s perfect for a kid wanting to read a whole book on his own.  At the same time, my fifth grader, who’s not daunted by Harry Potter, can also read it and get a good laugh.

Reviews of other books by Eoin Colfer:
The Legend of the Worst Boy in the World
Imaginary Fred
Artemis Fowl

Copyright © 2005 Sondra Eklund.  All rights reserved.

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