Book Description

How do you shut up when your nose is doing all the talking?

Alan is not big or strong. He hates playing soccer and can barely keep up in math class. Moreover he’s fodder for every bully for miles around. But all that changes the day Norbert, an alien from Jupiter, comes to earth on an exploration mission and moves into – Alan’s nose. Soon Alan isn’t acting like himself, but is Norbert really to blame? Loud, pushy and hilarious, Norbert teaches Alan to stand up for himself, even when the odds are stacked against him. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Nose From Jupiter
If you like or love funny, fantasy, science fiction and unpredicable books, then I have the book for you. The book is called Nose From Jupiter by Richard Scrimger. It's about a boy named Alan that has an alien(or someting like that)that is from the plant Jupiter living in his nose. Yup, his nose. The alien's name is Norbert. This is a really funny book and is also good.The only bad thing about this book is that it is to long. You will have to keep reading to the next chapter to find out what will happen. On a scale of one to ten, I would give it an eigth.

A smart "children"s book that pulls no punches...
Alan Dingwall is a real kid: he's worried about bullies, wonders if his parents care about him now that they're divorced, and envies his overweight friend's apparently happy family. Alan struggles at math, and dreads the school bell that means the school population has to find a way out of the school without running afoul of the "Cougars" - the school bullies.

Life is tough - and real - for Alan, and Scrimger pulls no punches.

Then an alien, Norbert, takes up residence in Alan's nose, and things go quickly awry in Alan's balanced (if somewhat sad) world. Norbert is quickly mistaken for "Squeaky" - Alan's new nickname as the school's suddenly gifted ventriloquist. As Squeaky starts tossing bon-mots aplenty around the school, Alan finds himself unwittingly insulting the bullies, telling girls how he really feels, and being - just this once - the life of the classroom.

What's heartening about this tale is not really the antics of the alien in Alan's nose - though certainly the humour is a blast and it's enjoyable to the extreme. What got my real vote was the true-to-life child frustration that Scrimger wove into the plot. Alan worries that his father doesn't care about him anymore, and that his mother is just too busy to really pay attention. He's a witty kid, and very smart (in non-math ways), and I doubt anyone would have any trouble empathising with Alan's world.

The balance of humour and real-life in this book is nothing short of artful, and kids will appreciate not being spoken down to in this tale. Snap it up, and be prepared for an eventually triumphant novel that will touch on some real emotionality.

'Nathan

"Nose from Jupiter" is my favorite book!
The "Nose from Jupiter" was really a fantastic book and I loved it! It was really funny and the author had some funny sentences that just made me laugh. I liked the conversations between Norbert and Alan, and this book was funny and also sad. I recommend this book to everybody!

Great book (funny, witty, sad). Parents should read too.
I read this book to my daugther (9.5 yrs) during a long car trip this summer. We both loved it. It was very funny (Norbert, from Jupiter, has quite a sense of humour) but it was also sad as it addressed issues of kids suffering through a divorce, parents too busy for their kids, schoolyard bullies, confidence and self-esteem. We laughed at Norbert, cried, and then rejoiced for Alan when he learned how to deal with his problems. It is a wonderful book. I think that both kids and parents should read it. ... Read more

Book Description

Charlie Fairmile’s dad has been accused of bank robbery. Charlie knows his dad isn’t guilty, but the police are convinced he’s the Stocking Bandit. So Charlie has to find the real criminal—and fast. With the help of his best friends and his guardian angel, Charlie sets out to solve the mystery. Who knew that would mean crawling through a bug-infested crypt? Well, what you can’t see can’t hurt you, right? With plot twists and dialogue as fast-paced and funny as stand-up comedy, Richard Scrimger demonstrates in his U.S. debut why he is one of Canada’s leading children’s authors. ... Read more

Book Description

Norbert’s back, and Alan’s got him! In the third of Richard Scrimger’s wildly popular Nose books, Alan is off on a camping trip with his good friend, Victor. Fun, right? Not if the person who is taking you camping happens to be Christopher, your mother’s new boyfriend. And not if you aren’t exactly a fan of the great outdoors, with its bugs and swamps and bears.

The woods are full of dangers, and the boys seem to encounter them all in one hilarious misadventure after another. It’s up to Norbert, the alien from Jupiter, to help Alan find his way out of the forest. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The funniest family-life book ever written. Really.
I stumbled across this book while looking for one of Scrimger's children's titles and picked it up after the initial glance suggested this guy was really funny.

Well I wasn't disappointed. It is the first book in years that I have read that has me laughing out loud and chortling every few minutes. His description of life with four kids under the age of six is so accurate and heart felt that you just want to go over to his place and pay a visit (although the floor is sure to be sticky, the furniture toppled over and the noise level at high volume).

He covers a full year in the life of his brood, dissecting birthday parties, Hallowe'en, school concerts and less-than mundane visits to laundromats, jewelry stores and doctors' offices. Although I thought that I was happy that my own kids have graduated to their teens, I get slightly melancholy reading about this young family's everyday adventures. But it is so wonderfully written and entertainingly told, there isn't room for sadness.

There is also not a wasted word in the book. It is tightly written and even his stream-of-consciousness word play with his toddler is efficient and sharp. But most of all I love his observations about the nature of kids... his and the rest of ours.

"... Ed is a perfect conductor (of sticky and messy materials). Ever wonder how the honey or Magic Marker is conveyed to the rug and the furniture? I tell you, it's through the kids. Ed is amazing, he's like copper wire, he can reach for a jam-filled donut with his right hand and instantly discover jam on the tablecloth under his left hand. I myself have seen this."

Dave Barry would retire if he knew that Richard Scrimger was entering the field. This has got to be the funniest dad alive. ... Read more

Book Description

In this hilarious sequel to The Nose from Jupiter, Alan is to take his first airplane ride. He is off to New York, where his father will meet him for some “quality time” together. There are one or two snags, though. First, his father isn’t at the airport. Then there’s his cranky seatmate, Frieda, who is almost kidnapped while she’s waiting for her wheelchair at the baggage claim. Sally, an abandoned mutt, joins the scene. And finally, Norbert is back. He is an alien from Jupiter who had previously taken up residence in Alan’s nose when he was on a fact-finding mission to Earth. Alan had been, to say the least, an unwilling host to Norbert, but when you’re lost in New York City being chased by bad guys, you need all the help you can get! ... Read more

Reviews (3)

okay book
This book was okay.It was really fun and exciting at the beginning but at the end it got really boring so I stopped reading it! I still think a lot of other people would like this book but its not really my type. I'd say its for age 8 to 13.

An enjoyable read for kids and adults alike...
"A Nose for Adventure" brings back Alan Dingwall and the alien from Jupiter who likes to live in noses. This time, Norbert is residing in the nose of a scruffy dog named Sally, and Alan is visiting his father in New York.

However, his father doesn't show up at the airport, and Alan finds himself lost and alone with the wheelchair-bound Frieda, a sarcastic and somewhat angry girl a year older than himself. The two end up smack dab in the middle of quite the adventure: thieves are smuggling in Egyptian artifacts on the very flight the two kids took, and it seems that Frieda - whose parents also neglected to show up - might hold the key to solving the mystery.

The strength of Richard Scrimger's writing is in his characters. Alan, the narrative voice of the book, is a completely realistic young man (or at least, as realistic a young man as one could be when caught up in an illegal Egyptian artifact smuggling right with a wheelchair-bound cranky girl and a dog with an alien in its nose). Reactions of both adult and child alike are done intelligently, and presented with a realistic emotional overtone: When Alan's father doesn't show at the airport, for example, Alan has a mental replay of his divorced parents fighting about his father's lack of responsibility. Put simply, Scrimger doesn't pull punches, and it's a pleasant surprise - it's also a nice reminder of just how young kids tend to think - and what they think - about the world around them.

A good tale for reading aloud, "A Nose for Adventure" will likely promote some intelligent questions from the child that reads it. The chapters are just the right length for bitesized nightly reading sessions before bed, and I, for one, can't wait to read the book again - this time with my nephew.

First, though, I think I'll go grab a copy of "Nose from Jupiter," the first book in the series. "A Nose for Adventure" didn't suffer for my lack of reading the first book, but I imagine it will flourish with the other half of the tale. From what I hear, there's a sequel, "Noses are Red" due out sometime this year...

Highly recommended
Fabulous. Scrimger not only has a nose for great plots and plot twists, his use of language is musical and his humor is magical. Great for kids but an enjoyable read for adults who want to share the experience with their children. ... Read more

Book Description

A birthday party for baby Brenda, or Bun Bun as she’s called, is a wonderful thing – unless, of course, you’re her older sister. Poor Winifred is put out. She thinks the party should be for her.

Winifred learns that she too had a first birthday, and a party of her own. What’s more, she has a special job: to help Bun Bun remember her first birthday party in years to come. Now in paperback, Bun Bun’s Birthday is sure to delight a new gang of little tykes. ... Read more

Book Description

Twelve-year-old Jane Peeler is about to embark on asummer ritual: the family car trip. Along with her two younger brothers, Bill and Bernie, Jane will endure traffic jams, singalongs, and fights over who gets the window ona two-day car trip to New England. With help from her Walkman, it may not be too bad, even if her chain-smoking, grumpy grandmother is coming along. But during a stop at a gas station, the kids meet Marty – a kind, penniless old man with a problem. How will he get to his brother’s funeral in Schenectady the next day? Jane would like to help him out – but how? Bringing a friend along on holiday is one thing, but a total stranger?

Readers will delight in the hilarious detours the Peelers must make to get their newest passenger, and themselves, to their destination on time. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Fun Read
This book, "Way to Schenectady" was a great book. The jokes were quite funny, like the things Jane thought her grandmother was saying, when her grandmother was using bad language. I couldn't put this book down when I started it, and it was a good read. I became involved in the story, hoping that the homeless man wouldn't get caught, and the ending fit the story perfectly. It was great, and I believe that this book could appeal to anyone. ... Read more

Book Description

Eugene’s story is the story of almost every child who has found himself in the middle. All day, he finds himself trying to tell his own story. He wants to talk about how nicely he can pour his cereal. His sister Winifred interrupts to point out he is spilling. He wants to tell about the shoes he can put on. His sister points out that he has them on the wrong feet. When he tries to say that he’d like to walk the dog, Winifred is quick to interrupt: “We don’t have a dog!” In short, Eugene’s story is that he cannot tell his story. At least not until it is bedtime when he can dream – that he is an only child.

Richard Scrimger evokes a gentle and realistic family life in his tales of Bun Bun, Winifred, and of course, Eugene. ... Read more

Book Description

Eugene, Winifred, and baby Bun Bun are off to visit their uncle who lives in a Great Big Apartment building called Castle Apartments. Could it be a real castle? When Bun Bun, who’s just learned to walk, toddles into the elevator alone, big sister Winifred comes to the rescue. As they go up and up and up in the modern-day tower, they meet a scary monster, a witch, and even a beautiful princess. Or do they? ... Read more

Book Description

Readers first met the Peeler family as they went on a hilarious summer road trip in The Way to Schenectady. Now winter has come and with it the school holiday pageant. Jane Peeler, who loves to be the boss at all times, is directing her class production of The Nutcracker. All does not go as well as she planned as she finds the plot of the presentation creeping into her own life. First, there are problems at school, caused by a gym teacher who wants the gym for basketball, not for rehearsal space. Then there’s a budding romance in the cast. At home, Dad has come down with an illness, and Grandma — grumpy, chain-smoking, profane Grandma — comes back on the scene as a reluctant baby-sitter to Jane and her younger brothers Bill and Bernie.

The fun that ensues is pure Scrimger, and is sure to delight his legion of fans. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

You will enjoy reading this book.
In this sequel to THE WAY TO SCHENECTADY, Jane Peeler, 13, writes clever, funny poems to put to the music of The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky. His music and her poems make a great play and her class at school is performing Jane's work at their Winter Concert. Jane is the director, since she dreamed up the whole thing. Plus, she's bossy enough to tell everybody what to do and smart enough to know how things should be. But, as she discovers, that isn't all there is to directing.

Problem number one is the coach. He won't let her class use his gym for rehearsals. Then her best friend, Patti, who plays the heroine, gets a crush on Brad, who plays the hero. Their friendship starts to dissolve as Patti thinks that Jane is too friendly with Brad---and she thinks Jane bosses her around too much. Another student, Jiri, has a big body and a big heart, but a slow brain. He can't remember his few lines. Jane is sorry she even gave him lines, but she can't take them away because he is so happy to be in the play.

Jane has even more troubles at home. Her father gets pneumonia. He's the one who takes care of her and her brothers while her mother works. Things get so bad when her mother has to stay home that Jane's grandmother has to come help.

Jane is smart and determined. She knows the play will go on in spite of everything. Like everybody else, she just doesn't know how. You will enjoy reading this book to see how Jane shows nothing can get in her way.

--- (...) ... Read more