Count

by Melvin Burgess, Charlie Sanderson (Reading)

Count is a humorous story from the critically acclaimed and bestselling author, Melvin Burgess.

Brandon is a boaster – he says he is brilliant at lots of things. Then he is challenged to count up to ten million.

So Brandon starts – one, two, three ... and before long he is up to one thousand. Everyone around him is bewildered and annoyed – his friend Waris, his teachers and Miss Hexx, the head.

But Brandon can’t stop counting. And then strange, impossible things start happening. The numbers are taking over everything...

'Burgess is a master storyteller.' (on The Lost Witch)
The Times

Genres: Humor

Audio CD

Published December 28, 2021

About the author

Melvin Burgess is a British author of children's fiction. His first book, The Cry of the Wolf, was published in 1990. He gained a certain amount of notoriety in 1996 with the publication of Junk, which was published in the shadow of the film of Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting, and dealt with the trendy and controversial idea of heroin-addicted teenagers. Junk soon became, at least in Britain, one of the best-known children's books of the decade.

Burgess again courted predictable controversy in 2003, with the publication of Doing It, which dealt with underage sex. America created a show based on the book, Life As We Know It. In his other books, such as Bloodtide and The Ghost Behind the Wall, Burgess has dealt with less realist and sometimes fantastic themes. In 2001 Burgess wrote the novelisation of the film Billy Elliot, based on Lee Hall's screenplay. Polyphony is typical for his most famous novels.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/melvin...

Reviews

[Stace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Count is a fun middle-grade story of a young boy who likes to brag about everything and made far-out claims about his life. One being that he can count to one million (and back again).

The book consists of our young protagonist counting throughout as well as his school and home life and the mess that occurs over the year of counting.

The book is short, intriguing, and will give children a good giggle. It has plenty of black and white illustrations that catch the eye, which are amusing too.

There may be a twist in the plot but you will have to read it to find out what that it.

[Katy Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

The magic of numbers. Short and surprising, a great younger reader's book from Burgess.

Burgess is well known to me for his YA titles. This much more innocent but still sharply observed story should really be a hit with teachers, parents and actually almost any reader in Primary School.

A boaster by nature, Brandon gets himself into a fix when he tries to outdo his best friend's achievement of counting to 1,000.... he can count to TEN MILLION!

Once he's said it, he find he can't back down. Or even.... stop. Despite the horror of a Headteacher who pointedly exclaims: "This is a school! You're supposed to learn how to do things - you're not supposed to actually start doing them yourself until you're grown up."

But do them he does. The numbers are (literally!) queueing up to be counted! With an adoring sister looking on, a Mum and teacher proudly observing, and a Head who gradually sees the financial opportunities this 'stunt' might bring, Brandon and his Count swiftly become world-famous.

Will he make it? What will happen if he does? What might happen if he doesn't?

Lovers of maths will find moments of pleasure in this, and lovers of good humour will find plenty of scoffing moments, a villain well worthy of their indignation, and a story that really hasn't been seen before.

Very amusing, and a refreshing little tale for classrooms and bedrooms. Short and full of illustrations from the great Chris Mould, this will be read in a matter of hours.

For ages 6-11.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good book

[Zoë · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute original story. Sweet twist I didn't see coming. Definitely a recommend.

[Jennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tongue in cheek, funny and ridiculous story about Brandon, a braggart who can't help making ridiculous claims. challenge by his little sister that he can count higher than his best friend Waris. Claiming he could count to ten million Brandon starts, and cannot stop. To most people his counting is beautiful and mesmerising, even his teacher, Mr Wyke,but not the head teacher Miss Hexx who has been tasked with turning the failing school around.
Mr Wyke and the class work out it will take nearly a year for Brandon to complete his mission, and Miss Hexx expels him until he stops counting. His porr mother losese her job to stay home, but Waris is uploading clips of Brandon's counting and he starts to become famous. Miss Hexx swoops in, taking the credit and turn it into a money making exercise - the pressure is no to complete the count and crowds pay for participating in each millionth milestone.
Over the ensuing year Brandon loses all control of his life, his friend Waris, ad then his family as Miss Hexx, and the contract his mother signed gives her full control. there is much to talk about there about fame, fortune, greed and mass media.
Liberally illustrated with black and white sketches by Chris Mould, these add greatly to the story with facial expressions adding depth the the characters, and numbers littering the page, and as they grow in number, so do their personalities and actions.
A short and easy read for independent primary aged students
This wonderful celebration of maths, and numbers - each and every number in the world - is a hoot. good fun, with a clever ending.

[Becs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brandon proves without a shadow of a doubt that he's very good at counting. He thinks he's good at lots of other things, like football for instance, and enjoys a good boast. But counting is his sure-fire way to prove he's telling the truth about how good he really is at things! So he counts to ten million (ish) and then all the way back down again to 3! The book follows his journey of annoying people on his journey through the millions but is ostensibly a tale of family at heart.

I liked it, it was cute and Brandon is funny but it really reminded me of a story by David Walliams in one of his collections in which a character can't stop counting either! I couldn't shift the parallel from my mind. I totally appreciate that stories, particularly children's stories, are always going to have potential for similarities (and it is just a similarity) but with such potential for imagination and creativity within children's fiction I guess I just felt a bit disappointed by this one.

A fun story with a funny narrative, but not the most original.

ARC provided from the publishers in exchange for an honest review.

[Sverli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mal was anderes
Voll verzählt? von Melvin Burgess handelt von Paul. Paul ist ein Angeber, der immer alles besser kann. Nun behauptet er, er könne bis zehn Millionen zählen und zieht dies auch tatsächlich einmal durch, ungeachtet der Konsequenzen die daraus resultieren.

Das Cover passt perfekt zum Titel und der Geschichte. Auf hellblauem Grund sieht man Paul in einem Fenster. Um ihn herum schwirren Zahlen.

Die Leseprobe hatte uns gut gefallen, da die Geschichte versprach, mal etwas Anderes zu sein. Das Buch ist in 24 kurze Kapitel gegliedert. Immer wieder sind Worte fett hervorgehoben. Der Schreibstil ist altersentsprechend. Einige schwarz-weiß Illustrationen verbildlichen die Geschichte zusätzlich.

Zu Beginn fand ich die Geschichte sehr interessant, schnell wurde sie mir persönlich zu überzogen. Meinen Kindern hat gerade dieses Übertreiben gefallen. Daher geben wir 3,5 Sterne für dieses Buch.

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this to my 5-year-old and we both adored it. Captivating, funny and clever. And a lovely ending.