Author:J. P. Martin
Uncle does not often go on holiday as very few hotels provide beds big enough for elephants. At Sunset Beach he hopes for a real rest and change, but almost at once fifty camels, led by the courteous Claudius, arrive with news of trouble at his great castle of Homeward.
From this moment his attempts to have a holiday are interrupted by one unexpected happening after another. Uncle and his faithful followers rescue holiday-makers from the sinister Wheel House, use paraballoons at the Fun Fair, and face a fearful monster at Water-Step Hill. There’s the noisy braying affair of Idleass and Hot Donk; Fishy William at Comfort Cove; breakfast with the miraculous Singing Flower; high tea with the Glenmore Giraffes. A succession of fantastic adventures lead to the awesome moment when Uncle is chained and helpless at the mercy of the Badfort Crowd in Beaver Hateman’s Chamber of Horrors. Can Uncle possibly escape this time?
A riot of nonsense and adventure, may well become a classic in the great English nonsense tradition
—— ObserverJoyously surreal, set in landscapes full of toffee, deferential choirs of badgers, heavenly water-slides and velvet chairs . . . Their pachydermous protagonist governs a benevolent plutocracy- but the books' great joy is the frequent sly and subtle lampooning of his capitalist pomp
—— GuardianThe books are very funny, installing a large cast of unlikely characters . . . in a world of mildly squiffy logic . . . And the illustrations are among Quentin Blake’s best work, scrawls and splotches that finally and unarguably distil character. But most important, this is political satire of a high order — Animal Farm for pre-teens, but wittier and more relevant to our own world
—— IndependentFew books are laugh-out-loud funny; fewer still are the children's books that have you stifling titters on the train . . . Uncle is a brilliantly sustained exercise in nonsense, played with the straightest of faces
—— Financial TimesYou ask any class "Who's heard of Alice in Wonderland" and up goes a forest of hands. Uncle is on the same level and should be more widely read and enjoyed
—— The Junior BookshelfIf there was ever a children's series generating fanatical, "cult" adoration, this is it. And deservedly so
—— GuardianWould make a great gift for literary eccentrics of any age
—— The Los Angeles TimesI think Uncle stuck with me because of its combination of excess, gadgetry and eccentricity - all of which are modes of being I have attempted to emulate in my adult life. I blame J.P. Martin
—— Will SelfTo portray divorce with humour and sympathy takes great skill and Jacquline Wilson demonstrates she has this in abundance with this delightful book. . . . A wonderful, moving, yet funny book - a special read
—— Books for Your ChildrenHonest, angry, sometimes sad and always very readable . . . Adults could learn something here about the emotional turmoil suffered by a child with divided loyalties
—— TESDido is compelling and beautifully written
—— So Little Time For BooksWhat a fantastic job Adel Geras has done bringing these characters to life
—— Sarah's Book ReviewsFull of suspense and the characters were written so well that you were really pulled into their lives
—— Chrissie's CornerThe book comes billed as "a passionate tale of love, betrayal and revenge" - and it is indeed, an excellent, intelligent read which will stretch minds just as it will stretch vocabularies. It is vivid in the world it creates, intriguing as it takes you there and satisfying when it leaves you
—— Chichester TodayAdele Geras gave us brilliant evocations of the ancient world with Troy and Ithaka. With Dido she again takes a classical setting and story and breathes freshness, and above all an up-to-date connection, into the people and the places whilst skilfully remaining faithful to her sources
—— School Librarian