The Mummy Family Find Fame. (Red Bananas). Tony Bradman. Illustrated by Martin Chatterton. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2006. 48 pp., pbk. & cl., $7.16 (pbk.), $18.36 (RLB). ISBN 0-7787-1092-0 (pbk.), ISBN 0-7787-1076-9 (RLB). Subject Headings: Mummies-Fiction. Reality television programs-Fiction. Egypt-Fiction. Humorous stories. Grades 2-3 / Ages 7-8. Review by Robert Groberman. *** /4

excerpt:

“OK, the idea of Fabulous Families is very simple,” the Producer said. “We’ll put cameras in the homes of the families we choose and film them day and night.”

Mommy Mummy and Daddy Mummy looked at each other, eyes wide.

“And the winners will be the family our viewers think is the best! So, Mr. and Mrs. Frankenstein, why should you be on the show?”

Tony Bradman’s The Mummy Family Find Fame is from Crabtree Publishing's “Red Bananas” series. It is an early chapter book intended for children in grades two and three who are just beginning to read chapter books. To aid in the transition from picture books, this series is illustrated on every page. This volume is illustrated by Martin Chatterton whose pictures are colourful and, in many cases, take up the entire two-page spread, with text laid on top. Other pages are more text-heavy but always with colourful illustrations that take up half of the space. The pictures are cartoonish, some with word balloons and others with text in the picture, itself, to aid understanding. For example, the picture of the Mummy family posing with phony smiles for the t.v. contains the words “fixed grins” printed above it.

     The Mummy Family Find Fame is the story of a family of mummies who live in the present and decide to appear on a television show in order to win prize money. What they don’t initially realize is that the show is not a game show but a reality-type show in which cameras are placed throughout their home and they are required to appear “live.” The television audience will watch them and other families, and the winner will be the audience’s favourite family.

      Children will recognize this very modern television format. They will also recognize the classic monster characters of the mummy, Frankenstein and Dracula.

      Vocabulary in the text is well-suited for the target age range. Children who have trouble with words like “bandages” or “tombs” or “grimace” can refer to the closely matched illustrations. The vocabulary tends towards the phonetic, and with such a creative and modern story, children of grades two and three age should not have difficulty with language like “mayhem” and “hasty” and “constantly.”

Recommended.

Robert Groberman is a grade one and two teacher at Kirkbride Elementary School in Surrey, BC.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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