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Charlie & Lola

Boo! Made You Jump!

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Charlie likes to make Lola jump, but Lola can never make Charlie jump. Lola says, "But I really want to make you jump, Charlie." And Charlie says, "OK, Lola, but that will NEVER happen." So Lola tries everything she can to scare Charlie. In the park, Lola and Lotta shout 'Boo!' - but it doesn't make Charlie jump. Then they dress up as scary ghosts, but that doesn't frighten Charlie or Marv at all. Later, Lola tells a story about a terribly, terrible very old castle and a scary ghost ...but Charlie still isn't scared one bit! Will Lola manage to think of anything to make Charlie jump?

26 pages, Board Book

First published January 1, 2007

2 people are currently reading
91 people want to read

About the author

Lauren Child

452 books837 followers
Lauren Child MBE is an English author and illustrator. She was the UK Children's Laureate from 2017-19.

Child grew up in Wiltshire as the middle child of three sisters and the daughter of two teachers. She has always been interested in the many aspects of childhood, from gazing into toy shop windows to watching American children's shows from the 1960s. After attending two Art Schools, she travelled for six months, still unsure about which career to embark upon.

Before writing and illustrating children's books Child started her own company 'Chandeliers for the People' making lampshades. It was only when she came to write and illustrate the book Clarice Bean, That's Me that she decided to devote her time to writing and illustrating books for children, which combines her fascination for childhood and her talent for designing and creating. Child gets her inspiration from other people's conversations or from seeing something funny happen.

Her book I Will Not Ever Never Eat A Tomato won the 2000 Kate Greenaway Medal. For the 50th anniversary of the Medal (1955–2005), a panel named it one of the top ten winning works, which comprised the shortlist for a public vote for the nation's favourite. It finished third in the public vote from that shortlist.

Child lives in North London.

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5 stars
72 (34%)
4 stars
55 (26%)
3 stars
66 (32%)
2 stars
8 (3%)
1 star
5 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
Profile Image for LeGrand.
76 reviews8 followers
October 18, 2007
i LOVE Lauren Child.. I especially like her artwork.. The stories of Charlie and Lola are not as entertaining to me as Clarice Bean.. but they are still good.. Lauren does a great job of tapping into the energy of children and an even better job of translating that energy into a story.. i only gave this two stars because the story was not so hot.. but the pictures and dialogue were A+..
Profile Image for Contemplative.
132 reviews
August 14, 2009
Another cute Charlie and Lola book. Clearly a favorite of my 4 yr old. It would be perfect for Halloween time. The actual cartoon is even cuter.
Profile Image for Emily.
112 reviews1 follower
June 28, 2022
This was a cute story I’ve always loved the art style of Charlie and Lola and it’s one of favorite and most nostalgic kids shows. I think it’s an underrated masterpiece. This story however could have had more plot and words to it so it loses some points. But I think it works well visually and feels like an episode of the show. One of the things I particularly liked in the story is the usages of different fonts for emphasis! Playing around with fonts isn’t used often enough in imagery based written media or poetry honestly!
Profile Image for Mom_reading_childrens_books.
53 reviews
September 20, 2025
I have to say, I like Lauren Child's original books better, but the ones based on the TV show are also fun. In this one, Lola keeps trying to scare Charlie into jumping. Will she succeed?
Profile Image for Vivian.
2,397 reviews
October 21, 2010
Story time at our small library includes babies to toddlers to pre-school age children.
As children arrive they come up to the story teller to have their hand stamped with a rubber stamp picture that reflects the theme of story time.
The room is set up with a cozy chair for the story teller, props, and books on display.
The children can sit in chairs or on a decorative area rug.

We begin by greeting each child by name with the song "The More We Get Together, together, together; the more we get together the happier we'll be. There's __________ & __________ & __________ & _________; the more we get together the happier we'll be". There were 43 children today (counting babies) so sometimes I sang eight or twelve names before singing the refrain. We finish of with "There's moms and dads and (friends or grandma's, etc)and (my name).

Next we cue everyone up for the theme by singing, "Hello Everybody, let's clap our hands, clap our hands, clap our hands; hello everybody let's clap our hands, clap our hands today." Then we do other motions. Today we just did one other motion: "let's say peek-a-BOO!...". Because today's theme is "G is for Ghosts".

We began with this story because it's not too scary AND it's fun. It's easy to dramatize because the typography shows how each word should be read. The story even kept the attention of the parents.
Profile Image for Rosa Cline.
3,328 reviews44 followers
March 31, 2015
I have tagged this as a Halloween book but it's not necessarily a Halloween book. Charlie and Lola are a set of siblings that get along most of the time. Charlie is always trying to teach Lola things that she may not know. In this book Charlie had scared Lola several times so now it's Lola's turn to try and frighten Charlie; even making up a made up story. I read this outloud to my 3 year old granddaughter and although she didn't say anything I think she got a little scared herself at times but in the end she giggled and laughed at how Lola finally got Charlie to jump! So just be heads up if you are reading this to a younger child, they will like it but it may scare them at times.
Profile Image for Drew Graham.
1,071 reviews40 followers
February 4, 2016
Charlie doesn't startle easily, but Lola is determined to try.

We have been loving our library's C&L collection, and this is a fun selection. The story wasn't so strong, but it had a good progression anyway, and the mixed media artwork was as interesting as ever. (And the inclusion of animals is always welcome to our discerning little reader.) These books are also a great alternative to the occasional viewing of the ever-popular-at-our-house show.
Profile Image for Amy.
543 reviews23 followers
June 12, 2008
Charlie is always able to frighten his little sister Lola, but Lola is never able to frighten Charlie. Lola and her friend Lotta try very hard to frighten Charlie and his friend Marv, but nothing works, until Lola tells a scary story about a spooky castle. A 'Twinkle' and a 'Sizzle' later, Charlie jumps! "BOO!" Charlie finally gets frightened. This is a cute story, perfect for Halloween!
Profile Image for Josiah.
3,487 reviews157 followers
December 16, 2009
This is a good story, adapted from the television episode, in which Lola tells her version of a ghost story to Charlie, Lotta and Marv one night when they're all having a sleepover. Lola's story starts out as fairly scary, but her surprise ending changes that! The idea that makes up this book is definitely explored in greater depth in the television episode, but it nonetheless is a fun story.
12 reviews1 follower
April 23, 2014
Charlie is always scaring his younger sister Lola. so Lola wants to finally be able to scare her brother. She tries various methods but only one thing makes him jump. Read, to find out. predictive text 'boo' can get children engaged and support children with EAL/SEN to repeat alongside their peers. Very quick read.
Appropriate age range- 3-7
Profile Image for raccoon reader.
1,807 reviews4 followers
June 28, 2012
I loved the tone and pace of Child's writing. I gotta check out more of her books :) Very cute, not very scary, so good for all ages. Plus, they have a dog named sizzles so that's double cute points. :)
Profile Image for Heather.
1,949 reviews1 follower
July 15, 2011
26 months - O chose this book as her prize during summer of reading because it was Halloween like. Ugh, not a great read and the illustrations are so so.
Profile Image for Dona Gay.
164 reviews2 followers
January 30, 2012
I like Charlie and Lola. They are off the wall. The illustrations are fun and very distinctive. I didn not find that he story line on this one was spectacular so I gave it 3 stars.
Profile Image for Debra Haydock.
Author 1 book
September 7, 2012


My son loves this one. I think for older kids it lacks the humor of the original Charlie and Lola as written by the author, but the illustrations are great.
3,239 reviews
September 7, 2012
Lola would like to make her brother charlie jump, but he tells her nothing makes him jump until...
Could be used for Halloween but also at any other time of the year
1 review
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December 16, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews

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