Your selection was perfect for our children and what really made the difference was your ability to engage with each child, discuss their interests and help them to choose a suitable book based on your extensive knowledge of the books you were selling. I was at my last school for 4 years and we had ********* book fairs every term – and every term, I was disappointed by the narrow range of books. There's just one problem -- they have only seventeen days to spend all the money before it becomes worthless. His books have been shortlisted for a multitude of prizes, including the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, the Whitbread Children's Fiction Award (now the Costa Book Award) and the Roald Dahl Funny Prize. Somehow, through a series of exciting adventures, Damian brings the family back together and they all discover that family and friends matter more than any amount of cash!

THE MAIN THING I DON’T LIKE ABOUT THE BOOK IS BECAUSE THEY DON’T TELL THEIR DAD BECAUSE THE GOVERNMENT WILL HAVE 40 % OF IT. I thought the book was overall mediocre but there were aspects that I did like and I could see why people would like the novel but personally I didn’t. Damian thinks it is a gift from God and needs to be spent doing good; Anthony, his brother, prefers to indulge his taste in extravagance and real estate!The story is told in first person from Damian’s point of view and the language he used is mostly your every vocabulary except for Damian’s extensive vocabulary.

What would you do if you were praying for a miracle that would make everything better, when a bag full of money falls from the heavens? It's a personal thing, and probably unique to a smaller group of 10 year olds, but my son really struggled to follow the story line because of the way the dialogue is tagged - that means that it doesn't say "he said" or "said Jamie" or "said the Teacher", etc. They would also only drop off a case of books and leave us to run it – it was so lovely to have you on hand to chat to the children and recommend them books, as well as the small (but appreciated!I read some chapters aloud to my younger sister (who is cool as a cucumber by temperament) and she laughed out loud to hear his antic reasoning, proving that for those who don't identify, there is much pleasure to be had from visiting Damian's corner of kook for a while. While you are hearing your father’s words to be ‘excellent’, following the guidance of the saints, your brother is more of a real-estate baron, it seems…. The real estate and financial commentary of the protagonist's older brother, Anthony, is one example that comes to mind. A wonderful, sweet story told by a 5th-grade boy who just happens to see long-dead saints everywhere he looks. At the end, Anthony says, “And so they failed to make proper use of their once in a life time investment opportunity and they all regretted it ever after.

It's a bit different from the movie, which made it a surprising ending, and I actually liked the book ending better. We follow Damian and Anthony (brothers) through everything they do with the money before the day when the pound gets changed for the Euro.You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. Steven Lenton is a multi-award winning illustrator, originally from Cheshire, now working from his studios in Brighton and London with his dog, Big Eared Bob.

As a child I would have read and enjoyed this several times, for the simple adventure once, and then a reread for figuring out the mysteries and puzzles and the how-to of economics, and then a nostalgic reread would have given me a chance to appreciate Damian's obsession and visions.I totally understood Damian's obsession with saints after his mother passed away, and his need to be pious and excellent. We bought this book for our 'level 6' class because Mrs Sedgwick's mum (who is a librarian) said it was well-written and demanding.