BOOOM! by Alan Macdonald

Ill. by Mark Beech. Bloomsbury, 2011.
Recommended for ages 7-9. This short chapter book Booom! is the fourth instalment in the entertaining Iggy the Urk series. Set in the Stone Age the series is focused around the tribe of Urks (it is safer - and easier on the cooking!) and their continued and humorous discovery of the world around them. In the midst of the daft tribe is the intelligent Iggy whose realism and ideas for change and innovation are met with incredulousness. Nothing could be better than what we have now! If we go too far we will fall off the edge of the world! If it is raining in the valley it is raining all over the world! The hilarious banter between the reluctant and unworldly Urks and the imaginative Iggy is fantastic. Also fabulous are the Quentin Blake-like illustrations by Mark Beech.
This book does not require reading of the previous Iggy books and will draw children into a time when knowledge of the world was limited, when volcanoes were mysterious and called 'Old Grumbly', when the properties of water were unknown and the idea of boats or 'floaters' were ridiculed. In Booom! the likable hero Iggy is left to once again lead his foolish tribe out of trouble and is also bestowed with an unexpected responsibility, no doubt signalling many more comical Iggy adventures to be had in the future. This is a fast-paced reading experience that will please anybody possessing a sense of humour and an imagination!
Nicole Smith-Forrest