Two sides to every story by Beck & Robin Feiner

Attempting to give two sides to each story, sees the author and illustrator, Beck and Robin Feiner present humorous pages of opposites, of comparisons, of thought provoking ideas which some readers may not have heard of. A page spent on love of sciences and what scientists do is followed by a page about historians and the impact they have on us. The two are not mutually exclusive, but complement each other, so readers will have lots of thoughts about which is the most important and what each does. Another double page on cats and dogs is far more black and white. As is a page on what to eat for breakfast very funny as Oscar tumbles around the pages. Another double page offers the pros and cons of living in the country as opposed to living in the city. Turning the page gives the positives and negatives of swimming at the beach or in the pool.

The coming schools' public speaking competition sees many decisions having to be made about how to dress, and what to say.

Oscar dresses in a suit for the competition and presents the reasons why it is good to be dressed up, but also tells about feeling more casual and at ease when dressed in an old t-shirt. After the debate the team decides to go the cinema but then another decision needs to be made. The most important of these is what to buy at the candy bar.

So lots of mental gymnasts is involved reading this book, seeing that each offers a debate about which is best and if reading in a group, readers will hear that most of their group will have opposing ideas. This will encourage younger readers to accept that points of view need to be accepted not derided.

Funny illustrations will enthral the readers as they follow the tumbling Oscar through his voyage of discovery.

Themes: Debate, Opposition, Discover, Humour.

Fran Knight