Test Point 1
Dick King-Smith served in the Grenadier Guards during the Second World War, and afterwards spent twenty years as a farmer in Gloucestershire, the county of his birth. Many of his stories are inspired by his farming experiences. Later he taught at a village primary school. His first book, The Fox Busters, was published in 1978. He wrote a great number of children's books, including The Sheep-Pig (winner of the Guardian Award and filmed as Babe), Harry's Mad, Noah's Brother, The Hodgeheg, Martin's Mice, Ace, The Cuckoo Child and Harriet's Hare (winner of the Children's Book Award in 1995). At the British Book Awards in 1991 he was voted Children's Author of the Year. In 2009 he was made OBE for services to children's literature. Dick King-Smith died in 2011 at the age of eighty-eight.
Gr 2-4-Readers will enjoy this funny tale of a baby boy and his seven-year-old sister. George amazes Laura by speaking when he is a mere four weeks old, hence the title. He is well beyond babbling. "`But George,' said Laura, `how do you know the English language?' `Well, I'm English, aren't I?'" he replies. While the infant demands that his sibling keep his skill a secret until he is good and ready to share it, he realizes that he'll eventually have to come clean. He clues them in gradually, repeating their simple words, and then decides to "feed them simple sentences.- Like, `George wants potty.'" Eventually, he makes a big speech at his first birthday party, astounding his adult relatives. The story moves smoothly as George approaches his milestone, and the humor is consistent. Kids will enjoy being in the know as the fawning relatives continue to babble in baby talk at him. Brown's pen-and-ink drawings (one on every page) keep up with the humor of the story. This amusing first chapter book would also be an entertaining read-aloud.-Linda Gray, Lon Morris College, Jacksonville, TX Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
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