Mr Majeika and the School Play

Humphrey Carpenter's Mr Majeika and the School Play is a silly, magical school story for 6 year olds, with three more adventures for Class Three.

What happens

Mr Majeika used to be a wizard. Now he teaches at St Barty's, and teachers aren't supposed to do magic. The trouble is Hamish Bigmore, the worst-behaved boy in the class. Every time Hamish plays up, Mr Majeika loses his temper and a spell slips out.

In the first story, Hamish grabs the remote control during a film about climbing Everest and won't stop fiddling with it. There's a flash, a puff of smoke, and he's gone. That evening he turns up in the Australian soap Jody is watching. Then behind the Prime Minister on the news. Then in a spooky old film, complaining that he's trying to get some sleep!

Who wouldn't want to wander from one telly programme to the next? Getting him back out is another matter entirely.

Next, St Barty's puts on Jack and the Beanstalk for a drama competition. Hamish has been given the part of Jack, and a snooty rival school has been quietly handing him chocolates. When the play starts to fall apart, Mr Majeika tries to help. He conjures up a REAL giant, who takes a liking to the judge (for his Man Soup).

The last story is a school trip that goes badly wrong. The bus driver refuses to take Class Three home (Hamish spent the whole journey telling him how to drive). So Mr Majeika turns the museum's huge rug into a flying carpet. It just won't go where he tells it to.

Each story is a complete little adventure, so it's lovely for reading one at bedtime. The jokes are silly and gentle. Mr Majeika is kind and a bit hopeless, and quite often it's the children who work out what to do.

Hamish is the one young readers will love to be cross with. He's rude, greedy and always up to something. There's a tiny bit of peril, with a hungry giant and a robot head teacher carrying a spanner, but it's all played for giggles.

What to read next

If this one goes down well, go back to the very first Mr Majeika book. That's the rainy Monday when he first flies in through Class Three's window and has to pretend to be a perfectly ordinary teacher.