Barnaby Brocket floats, and his parent's can't stand that he's not 'normal', having been told 'he'll grow out of it' they install mattresses on the ceilings to prevent him banging his head for the moment and try to keep him in the house at all times - with the exception of a peg to the washing line for some Vitamin D in the sun every now and again.
His parents soon grow tired of him, after eight years, sending him to the most horrid school and making him wear a sandbag weighed down rucksack, they do something terrible. One day Barnaby's mother Eleanor takes him and Captain W E Johns (the dog) for a walk to Mrs Macquarie's Chair and with her scissors she cuts Barnaby's rucksack, as the sand spills out Barnaby soon floats upwards, shouting for his mother's help as she stands there and watches.
He bumps into a hot air balloon (thank goodness!) and is rescued buy two women on their way back to Brazil to their coffee farm. Soon afterwards Barnaby is on his way back to Sydney but falls asleep on his train and misses the stop for the airport!
I won't tell you any more than I already have but Barnaby has some great adventures including parachuting (or trying to) and meeting some different and fantastic people along the way. This is clearly a story about how being different is most definitely not a bad thing, which I think is one of the most important thing's a child can learn as early on as possible.
A brilliant read. Oliver Jeffer's illustrations are superb, they compliment the story perfectly.
Recommended age 8+
Published 2nd August (tomorrow!) by Doubleday Children's in hardback and is £10.99
