Doctor Proctor's Fart Powder by Jo Nesbo

Doctor Proctor has finally created something to help him fulfil his dream of becoming a world-famour inventor- a super-strength fart powder than can propel people into outer space!

DPFP opens with a young girl named Lisa watching new neighbours moving into the house where her best friend used to live, and meets 10 year old Nilly, who’s the smallest boy she’s ever seen. Nilly’s heard every joke and comment about his name and his size, and wants nothing more than to play his trumpet in a marching band on the upcoming Independence Day parade. But then Nilly meets Doctor Proctor, an eccentric scientist whose most recent invention was a powder that makes your body glow a luminous green, a meeting that leads to the first test of what will become a super strength version of his Fart Powder.

But while Lisa, Nilly and the Doctor are trying to survive the explosive, pants-ripping results of the tests and find a way to make the Fart Powder a commercial success, there are others who want to get their hands on the Fart Powder and claim the rewards for themselves.

There’s a lot more going on in the background though, with an escaped anaconda on the loose, a bitter music teacher, playground politics and a daring escape from jail all adding to the chaos. Nilly and Lisa are likeable, distinct characters throughout, and Nesbo doesn’t let them stray into becoming annoyingly precocious. The story has a lighthearted, fun feel to it and with short, punchy chapters punctuated by Mike Lowery’s quirky artwork, it reads incredibly quickly and won’t intimidate younger readers.

While some of the humour has a.. Norwegian flavour to it, and perhaps loses something in translation, it’s hard not to laugh when everything revolves around a revolutionary fart powder.

Simon & Schuster Children's Event

Mark and I headed off to S&S's offices to attend their Young Fiction evening: Make 'em Laugh.

It was chaired by the ever charming (and funny) Graham Marks. He chatted with Jo Nesbo (yes, I know, who would have thunk that Mr. Nesbo excelled at kids writing too, not just crime writing!) Waterstones prize winner Katie Davies (exceedingly pretty and very clever) and new friend to MFB, Tamsyn Murray (she who wrote My So-Called Afterlife but who has a series of books out for younger readers from S&S later this year called Stunt Bunny).

We got front row seats, cos we are greedy like that. I asked two SCBWI friends along - Sue Eves and Mo Oakley and made them sit in the front row too. They were shocked by this but soon enjoyed themselves as they had an unobstructed view of the proceedings.

Each author read a piece from their books and Jo Nesbo stole the show doing a reading from his Dr. Proctor's Fart Powder - the prose, combined with his fantastic Norwegian accent, won us all over and we were literally rocking with laughter.

Both Katie and Tamsyn read extracts from their novels and I know I'm a bit biased but I'm really looking forward to Tamsyn's Stunt Bunny books - they sound very clever, i.e. the use of language and the play on words came across as quite good, for confident readers. I also quite liked the fact that the story's been written from the bunny's point of view - but before anyone rolls their eyes: it works, trust me! And I'm not someone who is fond of talking animals.

The dialogue ranged widely from how humour is perceived in novels to points of view in the books; how the adults in the books are supporting characters only, leaving the younger folk the chance to experience it all for themselves. I started writing down various answers but then got caught up in the conversation and uh, I didn't write down the rest! But, trust me: it was very interesting listening to these peeps chat about their work etc.

Some photos from the event:

Panel and moderator being introduced.

Authors chatting before getting down to business.

Tamsyn Murray showing off her Pepper Potts good looks.

Below: Jo Nesbo reading from his children's novel to great amusement from the audience.

Graham Marks did a wonderful job of putting everyone at ease during the talk. As moderator he asked questions of the panel and it was intelligent thorough questions about their books, their writing, and of course, the importance of comedy in novels.

The authors handled themselves truly well. I think everyone was a bit in awe of Mr. Nesbo who is terrifically charismatic and of course, amusing. But I think both Tamsyn and Katie definitely gave as good as they got and although nerves were apparent, especially with Katie Davies, you could tell all three authors were very passionate about their writing and had strong feelings about comedy being written into novels, but not used as gags.

Questions from the audience at the end of the evening was short and soon everyone mingled over drinks and various nibbles. It was a fun and relaxed evening, more like hanging out with some friends, to be honest. This is the way to do it.

Thanks S&S peeps for inviting us bloggery types along. It was a lovely evening and it was good being able to meet these authors and hear from them about what makes them and their books tick.