Mr Majeika and the School Book Week

Humphrey Carpenter's Mr Majeika and the School Book Week is a set of three silly, spell-filled school stories for 6 year olds, starring a teacher who used to be a wizard.

What happens

Mr Majeika teaches Class Three at St Barty's. He's not supposed to do magic any more. But somehow a spell always slips out, usually when Hamish Bigmore, the class nuisance, is being a pain.

In the first story a new games teacher arrives with a scarf wrapped round her face. She makes the whole school do press-ups, teachers included, but lets Hamish eat chocolates all day. Thomas, Pete and Jody are sure something fishy is going on. Who could she really be?

The title story is the best one. Class Three are looking after the library for Book Week, and a visiting author talks to them like babies about her "bookie-wookies". Hamish ruins her visit, Mr Majeika loses his temper, and Hamish vanishes into the pictures of a picture book about a bunny!

Getting him out again goes wrong in the most brilliant way. Robin Hood, Captain Hook and Mr Toad climb off the shelves, along with a whole crowd of comic characters. And they don't want to go back.

In the last story the class go on a day trip to France. The bus flies over a traffic jam (and then over the sea). Hamish tries to pay for chocolates with English money and snaps the ends off people's bread. Then he turns up somewhere nobody expected.

These are quick, cheerful stories where magic solves one problem and makes three more. Hamish gets his comeuppance again and again, which young readers will LOVE. Poor Melanie cries at everything, and the joke never seems to get old for them.

Some of the details feel a little old-fashioned now (a hovercraft, a record shop, French lessons for a day trip). That's part of the charm, and none of it gets in the way.

It's a good one for reading aloud, and each story is short enough for one sitting. If your reader likes a naughty kid getting exactly what he deserves, they'll have a lot of fun here.

What to read next

If they'd like to see how it all began, try the first Mr Majeika book. He arrives at St Barty's on a magic carpet through the classroom window, and it rolls itself up into a bicycle in front of the head teacher.