The Country Pancake

by Anne Fine

Lancelot's lovely teacher, Miss Mirabelle, is in big trouble.She's told a giant whopper and unless she can come up with a brilliant plan, she's going to look very, very silly.Can Lancelot help this damsel in distress?

Genres: Childrens, France

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Though readers often find themselves inadvertently laughing aloud as they read Anne Fine's novels, as she herself admits, "a lot of my work, even for fairly young readers, raises serious social issues. Growing up is a long and confusing business. I try to show that the battle through the chaos is worthwhile and can, at times, be seen as very funny." In 1994, this unique combination of humour and realism inspired the hit movie MRS. DOUBTFIRE, based on Anne's novel MADAME DOUBTFIRE and starring the late comedic genius Robin Williams.

Anne is best known in her home country, England, as a writer principally for children, but over the years she has also written eight novels for adult readers. Seven of these she describes as black - or sour - comedies, and the first, THE KILLJOY, simply as "dead black". These novels have proved great favourites with reading groups, causing readers to squirm with mingled horror and delight as she peels away the layers in all too familiar family relationships, exposing the tangled threads and conflicts beneath. (It's perhaps not surprising that Anne has openly expressed astonishment at the fact that murder in the domestic setting is not even more common.)

Anne has written more than sixty books for children and young people. Amongst numerous other awards, she is twice winner of both the Carnegie Medal, Britain's most prestigious children's book award, and the Whitbread Award. Twice chosen as Children's Author of the Year in the British Book Awards, Anne Fine was also the first novelist to be honoured as Children's Laureate in the United Kingdom. In 2003, Anne became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was awarded an OBE. Her work has been translated into forty five languages.

Anne Fine lives in the north of England and has two grown up daughters.

Reviews

[Shahrun · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read and enjoyed a few Anne Fine books as a child (Crummy Mummy & Me was a favourite). Really glad I picked this one up because it had funny characters, great pictures and a wonderfully ridiculous plot! I will have to look out for some more of her books now.

[David Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came across this gem in the children's ward of the QMC, during my daughters spell in hospital. Despite my best attempts to get her to read this, she was having none of it, so I did!

I wasn't expecting a great deal from this book but I was pleasantly surprised. The characters are quirky, the plot is ridiculously funny and the overall feel of the book is such a feel good vibe, I can certainly understand why I found it where I did. I would recommend this to any child (or adult) who is either looking for a laugh, or in need of cheering up. I will be looking up more of this author's works.

[Stevenlomax1984 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice little book for kids

[Huma Khan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is about a boy and his adventures. It is set in a school which is in the middle of a barnyard/farm environment. Surrounding the school are different animals including a cow who is the boy's 'real' friend. The boy talks to the cow and explains his worries to the cow like she is his very own friend. The boy's class teacher is always changing as the headteacher cannot find a suitable person to take over. The children experience all kinds of teacher before Miss Mirabelle comes in to teach them. She is described as a teacher who wears extremely high heels and bright clothes and lipstick; it can be argued whether she is a good teacher or not. The headteacher never seems too impressed with her and wants to get rid of her. But the boy likes his teacher. She tells a little lie but he helps her get out of her lie with his friend's, the cows help.

I did not particularly enjoy the book myself however I did find that there is lots of different things which you can do with the book as part of a shared curriculum. During Literacy, the children were learning how to write balanced arguments so we used the book and we wrote about whether Miss Mirabelle is a teacher or not. For creative curriculum, using the book, I asked the children to write about the adventures they would go on with their friends. The book mentions ways Miss Mirabelle taught maths which I took on board also and used during my maths lessons.

As the book is based on a young boy looking for adventure in a school environment, I believe the children can relate to it. There are also many ways in which you can relate it to the different subject areas.

[Julia Iturburu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me encantaba leer este libro con mi abuela.

Un grupo de alumnos y su maestra organizan una rifa, donde la protagonista de la misma es una vaca, una vaca y su caca.
Hay humor, creatividad y trabajo en equipo, el libro muestra cómo pensar fuera de lo común puede ser la mejor solución. Muy divertido, original y con ilustraciones que acompañan la historia.