SuitabookA Load of Old Tripe
Gervase Phinn
- Reading
- Try reading a little at a time and pause when a new scrape or mystery catches your interest. Invite your child to predict what might happen, then revisit those guesses as the story unfolds.
- Themes
- Friendship and scrapes: Jimmy and his friends get into scrapes during the year leading up to the eleven-plus exams. The outline establishes friendship and mishaps, but not whether the story approves of or criticises the boys' behaviour.
- Home and industrial surroundings: Jimmy lives near steelworks, where the air is described as metallic-tasting and soot-filled, yet he would not want to live elsewhere. The contrast is clear, but the story's wider view of the neighbourhood and industry is not established.
- Worth knowing
- The setting includes air described as thick and metallic-tasting, with soot floating in it. This may be worth noting if industrial surroundings are a topic your family prefers to discuss together.