Mark Spark in the Dark

by Jacqueline Wilson

Everyone thinks Mark is the bravest boy in the whole school. But secretly Mark is afraid of the dark! One night, when he thinks his gran is in trouble, Mark is the only one who can help. But can Mark be brave enough to help his gran in the pitch black night-time...?

Genres: Childrens, Fiction

82 pages, Paperback

First published July 30, 1992

About the author

Jacqueline Wilson was born in Bath in 1945, but spent most of her childhood in Kingston-on-Thames. She always wanted to be a writer and wrote her first ‘novel’ when she was nine, filling in countless Woolworths’ exercise books as she grew up. As a teenager she started work for a magazine publishing company and then went on to work as a journalist on Jackie magazine (which she was told was named after her!) before turning to writing novels full-time.

One of Jacqueline’s most successful and enduring creations has been the famous Tracy Beaker, who first appeared in 1991 in The Story of Tracy Beaker. This was also the first of her books to be illustrated by Nick Sharratt. Since then Jacqueline has been on countless awards shortlists and has gone on to win many awards. The Illustrated Mum won the Guardian Children’s Fiction Award, the 1999 Children’s Book of the Year at the British Book Awards and was also shortlisted for the 1999 Whitbread Children’s Book Award.

Double Act won the prestigious Smarties Medal and the Children’s Book Award as well as being highly commended for the Carnegie Medal. The Story of Tracy Beaker won the 2002 Blue Peter People’s Choice Award.

Jacqueline is one of the nation’s favourite authors, and her books are loved and cherished by young readers not only in the UK but all over the world. She has sold millions of books and in the UK alone the total now stands at over 35 million!

In 2002 Jacqueline was awarded the OBE for services to literacy in schools and from 2005 to 2007 she was the Children’s Laureate. In 2008 she became Dame Jacqueline Wilson.

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this old J. Wilson book at a library book sale...
Unfortunately I wasn't very impressed with this one. I found it to be lacklustre unlike J. Wilson's later books which are full of interest and character.

[Katie (Kitkatscanread) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great story about a boy called Mark.
He is invited to a party, but he's scared of the dark.
I loved the gran; she was so funny!
I really good story for kids to read to not be scared of the dark!

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 3 out of 5]

510 - 2016

[Saiqa Manan]

This book is about a boy who is known by everyone to be fearless until one night, when his grandma seems to be in trouble, it’s discovered that he’s actually afraid of the dark.

This would be a great book to encourage children to understand the idea of flaws and encourage a discussion around that idea.

I think this books brings across a great message to young children and allows them to understand the idea of flaws through a fun and interesting way.

[Yasmeen Asha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Name : mark spark in the dark
by Jacqueline Wilson

A short book about Mark Spark and Mark Spark in the Dark.
this book for children .
this book was really boring

My rating: 2.5/5

كتاب للاطفال باللغة الانجليزية ، سهل القراءة لغير الناطقين بها
وجديد للقراءة المبتدئين
ولكن لم احبه شعرت بالملل اثناء قراءتي له
تقيمي : 2.5/5

[Slow Man · Rating 3 out of 5]

A relatively short book about Mark Spark and Mark Spark in the Dark.

[Lyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute little short read about a likeable boy, his gran and his friends. Positive messages, amusing events and two heartwarming stories.

[bakanekonomama · Rating 4 out of 5]

Akhirnya buku JW yang satu ini nggak ada cerita tentang anak yang ibunya meninggal terus ayahnya punya pacar baru, atau pengen punya istri baru, atau kenalan sama cewek yang akan jadi pengganti istrinya (soalnya, tiga buku JW yang saya baca, temanya begitu semua sih). Ilustrasinya pun berbeda, karena yang menggambar bukan Nick Sharrat, tetapi Bethan Matthews. Hhmm.. Kalo saya sih sepertinya lebih suka gambarnya Nick Sharrat, soalnya lebih ada ciri khasnya, dibanding gambarnya Bethan yang menurut saya (maaf) agak mainstream gambarnya.

Dari segi cerita, kisah Mark Spark ini sangat sederhana dan tidak menyajikan konflik yang terlalu berat. Buku ini berkisah tentang seorang anak lelaki bernama Mark, yang dibagi dalam dua bagian.

Di bagian pertama, pembaca diajak berkenalan dengan sosok Mark, anak lelaki yang ingin selalu bicara dengan suara keras, karena ia memiliki Great Gran (nenek buyutnya berarti ya?) yang kini sudah tidak bisa melihat, dan agak tuli. Jadi, Mark harus bicara dengan suara keras kepada neneknya itu. Setiap pulang sekolah, Mark pasti pergi ke rumah Great Gran, karena kedua orang tua Mark bekerja. Selain suka ngomong dengan suara keras. Mark ini juga anak yang aktif dan cerewet, sampai-sampai gurunya harus menyuruh Mark diam, karena dia kebanyakan bicara. Hahaa

Disini diceritakan kalau Mark ingin sekali punya anjing, tapi itu nggak mungkin karena nggak ada yang bisa merawat anjing itu di rumahnya. Soalnya, kedua orang tua Mark kan bekerja. Eh tapi, ternyata sekolah Mark akan menyewa seekor anjing khusus untuk membantu orang tuna netra! Mark pun turut berusaha keras untuk mengumpulkan uang dengan anak-anak sekelasnya, agar bisa mendapatkan anjing itu. Meskipun sebenarnya belum tentu juga sih anjing itu akan diberikan kepada nenek Mark, karena neneknya sudah sangattt tua. Tapi, usaha dan kesungguhan hati Mark disini cukup membuat saya terharu. Apalagi, terlihat kebaikan hati Mark disini, yang ingin membuat semua orang bahagia.

Misalnya, ketika Mark bingung akan menjual apa untuk memperoleh dana, nenek Mark menawarkan diri untuk membuat kaus kaki rajutan. Lho, tapi nenek Mark kan buta? Iya. Oleh karena itu, kaus kakinya warnanya beda-beda. Besarnya juga. Tapi Mark tetap bilang ke neneknya, kalau itu kaus kaki yang bagus... :')

Terus, ketika kaus kaki itu dijual, ternyata nggak ada yang mau beli. Jadi, Mark merelakan uang jajannya untuk membeli kaus kaki neneknya itu, sehingga ia nggak bisa beli cokelat. Dan ternyata, bukan hanya dagangan Mark yang nggak laku. Dagangan Louise, sahabat Mark, juga nggak laku. Akhirnya, Mark menggunakan uang jajan terakhirnya untuk membeli dagangan Louise, dan menghadiahkannya untuk neneknya! :') What a generous, kind hearted boy he is...

Sementara itu, kisah kedua bercerita tentang ketakutan terbesar Mark. Meskipun Mark ini orang yang dikenal paling pemberani di sekolah, ternyata Mark punya sebuah rahasia kecil. Dia takuuutt banget sama gelap. Kalau tidur, lampu kecil di kamarnya tetap dibiarkan menyala. Ibu Mark juga membiarkan lorong tetap terang, kalau-kalau Mark pengen pipis malam-malam.

Mungkin masalahnya terdengar sepele, tapi ketakutan Mark itu bikin dia nggak bisa berkemah bersama sahabat-sahabatnya! Jadi, di hari ulang tahunnya, Louise berencana untuk membuat acara berkemah di halaman rumahnya. Kalo kemah kan berarti di luar ruangan. Kalo di luar ruangan, berarti gelap dong... Kalo gelap, berarti Mark nggak bisa ikut dong.. Soalnya, kalo Louise dan Jason tahu Mark takut gelap, dia bakal diketawain sama mereka dong? Padahal Mark nggak takut sama cacing besar yang menjijikan, tapi masa takut sama gelap sih? Terus, gimana doongg??

Jawabannya, ada di bukunya.. :)

Seperti yang sudah saya bilang sebelumnya, kisah di buku JW yang ini sederhana baik dari alur maupun konfliknya. Konflik yang dialami Mark adalah konflik yang biasa ada di anak seumuran dia. Bacaan yang benar-benar ringan dengan tema yang biasa. Tapi saya suka, karena tergambar jelas kepolosan dan kebaikan hati khas anak-anak di cerita ini. Jadi, menurut saya cerita ini cocok untuk dibaca oleh anak-anak usia berapapun, karena kisahnya yang sederhana dan dekat dengan kehidupan anak-anak, serta banyaknya pesan yang baik untuk diketahui anak-anak.

4 bintang saya berikan untuk buku Jacqueline Wilson yang satu ini, setelah saya cukup dibuat kecewa dengan buku JW yang saya baca sebelum ini... :)

[Aine O'riordan]

Mark Spark in the Dark is part of Jacqueline Wilson’s broad collection of stories that involve familiar settings for children. First published in 1993, Wilson draws her audience by using techniques that the young reader will relate to easily. For example the first part of the book Mark Spark is based in a school setting and this helps the reader to engage with Mark straight away and understand the message that the book portrays as a whole. Bethan Matthews supports this method by using simple but familiar illustrations. The book is divided into two sections, Mark Spark and Mark Spark in the Dark.
Mark is a young, energetic and highly spirited young boy, who at first glance seems very confident. He is a typical young boy getting up to all sorts of mischief, jumping into puddles and befriending worms. We see him being very positive and ambitious in his attempts, to raise money at school, for a guide dog which leads him to becoming the star of the show. Mark spends every afternoon with his great Gran eating condensed milk sandwiches and reading ‘Love’s Flame’. Mark’s innocence at times adds a huge amount of humour to the book ‘they hadn’t got to any flaming bits yet, but there was a lot of love.’ Mark has one big problem however, and this does not become apparent until the second half of the book, when his friend Louise invites him to sleep over in her new pink tent for her birthday. Mark is afraid of the dark. The second half of the book is devoted to Mark’s fear of the dark and tells of the plotting he does with great Gran to avoid facing his fear. However, when Mark wakes up in the middle of the night to hear a scream from great Gran in the dark, will he be able to overcome his greatest fear to save one of his closest companions?
There are so many things to like about this particular book. As Mark is a regular boy in a normal setting, children can relate to him. The fact of the matter is, there are a huge amount of children afraid of the dark. So, despite this book being quite simple, it actually addresses a major problem that children may have developed. Even if it helped just one or two children overcome their fear of the dark, then it would be a book well read. I personally enjoyed it and thought it was extremely entertaining at times. The illustrations were also fantastic. Despite them being rather simple, I felt that they worked well for the type of book that it is and they really helped to bring Mark and the other characters to life. Looking at the book from a negative perspective, I didn’t see the point of splitting the book in two. Maybe it would make it easier for the younger reader but it is a short story so I don’t think it they would gain from this.
I would recommend this book for five to seven year olds and give it 8/10. It would be a great book for children who have developed a fear of something. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a fear of the dark. All children should be able to relate to Mark easily and take a strong message from reading it. It is definitely a book that I will use in the future if I find a student has trouble overcoming a fear so it will be part of my independent reading collection.

[Justin Lim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is short but interesting. Although nothing big happened, it teaches you how to overcome your fear. In this book, Mark was scared of the dark and missed a friend's sleepover because of that problem. But when he thinks he is being mugged, he urgently tries to save his grandma. Turns out it was just a cat and Mark realized the dark wasn't such a bad thing anyomore.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been instructed to give it 5 stars! It's a good, easy read aimed at my daughter's age. She enjoyed reading it, but the Jacqueline Wilson novels aimed at older children have much better stories I think.

[Alanya · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this free in a cereal box years ago and it wasa good childrens book.

[Aditi · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was good but not really for my age. It helps your fear of the dark