Alvin Ho: Allergic to Dead Bodies, Funerals, and Other Fatal Circumstances

Lenore Look's Allergic to Dead Bodies, Funerals, and Other Fatal Circumstances is a funny, tender story for 6 year olds about a boy who's scared of everything and has just promised to go to a funeral.

What happens

Alvin Ho is in second grade and he's frightened of pretty much all of it. Thunder. Principals. Book reports. At school his voice simply stops working, so he can't even ask for help with his history test.

His big brother Calvin has a plan for that. They tape Alvin's drawings of dinosaurs, pyramids and the Great Wall of China all the way into town, and it very nearly works (right up until Dad hears where they've been).

Then GungGung, Alvin's grandfather, gets a phone call. His best friend Charlie has died. Before Alvin knows what he's saying, he's offered to go to the funeral with him.

Gulp. Why did he say that?

Everyone is SO proud of him. Dad calls him a hero. Which means Alvin can't tell anyone how terrified he is, and the kids on the school bus are more than happy to fill his head with wakes, omens and bad-luck signs.

It's literally like being inside Alvin's head. He tells you everything, and his worries spin off in directions you'd never expect. A bus called Heavenly Tours. A garbage disposal that throws up a school letter. It's properly funny, and his little sister Anibelly is a scene-stealer.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

Death is the heart of this one. Charlie dies early on, GungGung cries, and there's a bedtime scene where Calvin sobs because he's worried their grandfather will die too. Alvin even dreams about it.

It's handled gently and with lots of laughter around it, but a child who's recently lost someone might find it close to home. On the other hand, if your reader has a funeral coming up and a head full of questions, Alvin's muddled, honest worrying could be a lovely thing to share.

What to read next

This is a later Alvin Ho book, the fourth in the series. If you'd rather meet him where he started, go back to Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things, where Alvin's secret superhero self meets the one place his voice won't go.