The Worst Class in the World Gets Worse

Joanna Nadin's The Worst Class in the World Gets Worse is a very funny school story for 8 year olds about a class that means well and gets it wrong every single time.

What happens

Stanley is in 4B at St Regina's Primary. Their headmistress, Mrs Bottomley-Blunt, makes a noise like a horse when she's annoyed (which is a lot). She says 4B is LITERALLY the worst class in the world.

It's hard to argue. His best friend Manjit is going to be the First Human Boy to do all sorts of impossible things, and he always has a FOOLPROOF PLAN.

Each story starts with everyone blaming someone else for what went wrong. Then Stanley tells you how it really happened.

When 4B are finally trusted to be playground monitors, they decide the only way to stay out of trouble is to spend break hiding in the toilets. Then Lionel decides what's safe to flush. Guess what happens next?

On the trip to the zoo, they find a penguin that looks a bit gloomy and decide it needs rescuing. They lure it into Harvey's rucksack with fish-finger-and-pickle sandwiches. It's all very peaceful until they get back on the coach.

It's told the way a real eight year old tells a story, all in a rush with "and then" and lots of CAPITALS. The class keep having the same arguments ("Is." "Is not." "Is.") and Mr Nidgett keeps threatening to quit teaching and become a daredevil stuntman.

You'll probably laugh as much as your reader does. The grown-ups are brilliant too, from Grandpa's "IN MY DAY" stories to Mum, who has spent all day listening to Mr Butterworth bang on about bollards.

There's a lovely warm side to it as well. Mr Nidgett believes every child is good at something, and at home the answer is always the same. As long as Stanley's happy, that's all that matters.

If you've got a reader who thinks school rules are there to be tested, this will have them in stitches. Stories this short and this silly are also great for reading aloud, one at bedtime.

What to read next

If 4B go down well, another Worst Class book is in the library too, and it starts with a battle over who gets to be Biscuit King.