Angela Nicely 3 – Superstar!

Alan MacDonald's Angela Nicely 3 - Superstar is three funny school stories for 6 year olds about a girl who can't stand being outshone.

What happens

Angela's name is Nicely, but that's not always how things turn out. In the first story her class is holding a talent contest. Tiffany Charmers is going to do the ballet dance she got a gold merit for (and she's told everyone a million times). Angela needs something that will knock that tutu right out of the running.

Singing's out. Her choir teacher says her voice could wake the dead. So she decides to become a hypnotist.

The trouble is, she can't actually hypnotise anyone. Her friend Laura agrees to pretend, and it's going brilliantly on stage until Tiffany stands up and says try it on her. What do you do when your fake act meets someone who definitely won't play along? Angela's answer is very clever and very cheeky, and you can see exactly why the audience are in fits.

The second story is a nature walk that goes wrong. Angela's sure there are wolves in Thornley Wood, and she talks Mr Weakly into taking the group in to look. They get lost, and then Mr Weakly climbs a tree to find the way out. He can't get down!

In the third, Angela spots a poster for the school football team trial. The boys say it's for boys. Angela says the poster doesn't say that! She turns up in pink shorts and sequinned trainers with flashing lights, and it's a lot muddier and a lot harder than she thought.

That last story is a lovely one. It's about being told you can't, getting flattened in the mud, and trying again anyway (with a bit of help from a teacher who turns out to be full of surprises).

Angela's a great character. She's bossy and dramatic and sure of herself, and her friends roll their eyes at her all the time. But she's never mean, and she's usually on the side of fairness. Keep an eye out for Bertie from next door, too, looking very muddy at the football trial.

The stories are short, with lots of talking and plenty of laughs, so they're a good fit for a child who's just getting going with chapter books.

What to read next

Once they've finished, go back to the first Angela Nicely book. Angela is convinced her head teacher, Miss Skinner, has turned up to assembly in a wig, and she's going to prove it.