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Tag: fiction

  • ‘Dogbird and Other Mixed-Up Tales’ by Paul Stewart and Tony Ross

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    Title of the Book: Dogbird and Other Mixed-Up Tales

    Author: Paul Stewart

    Illustrator: Tony Ross

    Publisher: Corgi Pups

    Publication Year: 2014

    Pages: 185 pgs.

    ISBN: 978-0-5525-5351-3

    Age Group: PYP (Grades 3rd & 4th)

    Genre: 21st Century Contemporary Animal Stories

    IBDP & IGCSE Subjects Covered: English, Wellbeing, Reading & UOI (Unit of Inquiry)

    Review Written By: Fiza Pathan

    Introduction

    The day shines not only when the sun rises in the sky. The day also shines when a PYP student reads a humorous, feel-good book that makes the child smile brightly like the sun. ‘Dogbird and Other Mixed-Up Tales’ is one such book by Multiple Award-winning British children’s author Paul Stewart, the famous creator of the international bestselling Edge Chronicles Series, which has sold over three million copies and is available in over twenty languages. The book is an omnibus, a collection of three novels by Paul Stewart: ‘ Dogbird’, ‘The Were-Pig’, and ‘The Watch-Frog’. All three books have been illustrated by the internationally famous and well-beloved illustrator Tony Ross, who is renowned for having illustrated some of the books of Roald Dahl and his protégé David Walliams. Tony Ross has also illustrated the famous Horrid Henry Series penned by Francesca Simon, which has sold over twelve million copies and is also an animated CITV series.

    The omnibus is highly humorous with the right touch of magic and a bit of indirect moral education that can go down very well with younger readers, especially in grades three and four. The novels are suspenseful yet hilarious, full of subtle humour, illustrated well, and meticulously crafted to hit the right comical and, at times, sentimental notes with the younger reader. The humour is clean, polished, and full of old-world charm that induces the younger generation to seek to play in the outdoors more than just gaming indoors or watching Netflix all day long.

    Paul Stewart has crafted his stories well, and Tony Ross has yet again done a marvellous job using the distinctive Roald Dahl style in his caricatures and illustrations. Thus, this gives the three novels a comical and fun-filled air, inducing the younger reader in the PYP section to pick the omnibus easily from the shelf. All three books are based on the lives of animals directly or indirectly, and all were published between 1998 and 2003. This was when the maximum number of clean, humourous children’s books were being published and illustrated using the characteristic Roald Dahl style to give the books in question a feel-good and fun setting. An element of fantasy was created only in the latter two books, namely ‘The Were-Pig’ and ‘The Watch Frog’. ‘Dogbird’ is the only realistic book that chronicles the story of a budgie who did not speak at all, twitter, or sing but instead barked like a dog continuously for hours together.

    All the novels are set in Great Britain and are perfect for the Summer or Diwali holidays. The following book analysis of Paul Stewart’s omnibus collectively titled ‘Dogbird and Other Mixed-Up Tales’ is an analysis of the three novels penned by Paul Stewart: ‘Dogbird’ (1998), ‘The Were-Pig’ (2002) and ‘The Watch-Frog’ (2003).

    Synopsis

    Dogbird:

    In the novel ‘Dogbird’ published in 1998, we are introduced to a bird that was one of the most favourite and sought after-winged pets of the 1990s, the budgie. The marvellous aspect of the budgie was that it looked colourful and cute, was soft and had a melodious singing voice, was highly active and entertaining, could speak if taught well, and could cultivate a broad vocabulary. The original budgie was always greenish-yellow in colour. However, other coloured variety budgies started to be bred in controlled laboratory environments, especially for their use in the pet trade in the 1990s. The budgie Dogbird is bluish-white with a bit of yellow that the pet store owner promised would talk if taught well or spoken to.

    Unfortunately, what the cunning pet store owner did not inform little Alice and her parents was that the budgie only seemed to know how to utter one kind of sound: a loud ferocious bark or a series of loud ferocious barks repeatedly for hours together. This would be so authentic that other nearby dogs would start barking loudly and repeatedly along with the budgie. The budgie seemed clueless about what he was doing or saying (or barking) and was at a loss to know why the three black labradors of little Alice’s home were so fond of playing with him and getting him forcefully out of his cage.

    Alice, on the other hand, and her parents were being tortured every day because of Dogbird and his continuous loud barking. They were losing sleep over it and their peace of mind. But they were a loving and decent family and had taken to Dogbird and treated him as part of the family. However, the situation was getting out of hand. Now, the dogs of the vicinity near and far and in the neighbourhood were also barking loudly, repeatedly, and excitedly to Dogbird’s incessant barks. The neighbours and Alice’s family also lost sleep over Dogbird and complained to Alice’s father about getting rid of the budgie or somehow stopping his incessant barking.

    When all seemed impossible to solve, one day Alice decided to release Dogbird into the wild because she could not bear to see him caged up, away from his rightful home and perpetually in danger of being mauled or killed by her ferocious and overexcited three black labradors. Whether her ‘change of heart’ was due partly due to the fact that Dogbird was a menace at their home is not dwelt upon by Paul Stewart, but it seems so as is depicted in the conversations shared between Alice and her best friend, Katie. However, the catalyst was when Dogbird got out of his cage one day when Alice’s parents were out, and the three dogs started chasing and wounding Dogbird in the bargain.

    Alice then set Dogbird free, but soon enough, because of his strange barking, the other birds of the air did not accept him and started pecking him to death. His wing started to bleed, and he tried flying hither and thither to save himself. Alice took matters into her own hands and managed to save poor outcast Dogbird by locking him back in his cage. It was ultimately decided that the best place for Dogbrid would be with Alice’s grandmother as her pet because she had been recently burgled, and burglars in her area were not afraid to rob a house where there were no dogs. It was Alice and Katie who, after Alice’s grandmother’s burglary incident, thought of allowing Dogbird to stay with her. Once this happened, Dogbird and Alice’s grandmother were much happier, and she was very loving towards the budgie, who kept the robbers away from her home and also kept her company. The budgie, therefore, at last found his forever home.

    The Were-Pig:

    In ‘The Were-Pig’, the otherwise tame and calm Albert, a favourite of his maternal grandmother, stole a Mars Bar from his classmate’s tiffin or lunchbox at school one day. He took the Mars Bar outside the school to the grounds in the heat of the shining sun and gobbled down the Mars Bar. When he confessed this to his maternal grandmother, she was shocked and disappointed with Albert and then informed him about something mysterious. On repeatedly asking little Albert whether he ate the bar in the glare of the shining sun and when he confessed that he had done precisely that, his maternal grandmother informed Albert that from henceforth, he would be turned into a Were-Pig.

    According to the maternal grandmother, a Were-Pig was a half-pig and half-human creature similar to a werewolf, a half-wolf and half-human creature. However, where a werewolf only turned into his mysterious form at night when the full moon was seen in the sky, Albert would be turned into a were-pig whenever the sun shone brightly in the sky. Albert found the whole idea scary and odious because his maternal grandmother had never been known to lie to him. And she was proved right the next day because immediately when poor Albert saw the sun shining extremely brightly after a long spell of rain, he turned into a plus-size but miniature were-pig. And the moment he was transformed, he grew extremely or ravenously hungry.

    He went to the school cafeteria and the cafeteria’s kitchen, where he greedily gobbled down all the food he found. He managed to do so on the sly because of his small size, but soon, the other cooks found out about his actions, especially when he accidentally dropped a vessel of heated custard. He tried fleeing from their grasp but was blinded by the slop bucket being attached to his head. He ran away from the scene of the crime with the slop bucket still stuck to his head when he appeared before his homeroom teacher. She immediately recognized him because of his clothes and got the bucket off his head. When his face was revealed, he was again turned into a normal boy and was not caught by the cooks because they were after a giant pig.

    He then vowed to his maternal grandmother that he would never be greedy for food again. He wondered why he was turned back into a normal boy when he noticed an unknown student flicking his Mars Bar from his lunch box. On hearing this news, the maternal grandmother informed him that it was because of the robbery of his own Mars Bar by someone else that he had turned back into a little boy and that the curse of the were-pig was now upon someone else in his school. Albert nevertheless vowed that he would not ever be greedy to rob someone’s food again, and the maternal grandmother seemed unusually pleased with this vow, which made Albert wonder who was behind the magical and crazy happenings of that school day.

    The Watch Frog:

    In the novel ‘The Watch-Frog,’ a little girl named Looby has her bedroom in the back of a tall but cozy house in London. She had been given that room in the house as it was the quietest place in the home, and it remained quiet till one day, a frog appeared in the garden pond outside Looby’s bedroom window. This frog habitually croaked from 4:00 am, disturbing Looby’s sleep midway or too early. Looby started losing sleep literally and metaphorically over this noisy frog, and dark circles started appearing below her eyes along with terrible bags.

    Looby’s grandfather was the one to notice the change in Looby’s sleep-deprived appearance and asked her what the matter was, to which Looby indicated the problem she was having with the frog. When her grandfather heard about the frog, he mysteriously suggested to her that the frog was probably a frog prince, like in the famous fairy story ‘The Frog Prince’ taken from the Grimm Fairy Tales. He hinted that Looby should probably try kissing the frog to get a different reaction. When Looby heard what her grandfather said, she almost gagged and vowed to do anything but kiss the frog living in the little pond outside her bedroom.

    She tried many ways to avoid the irritating and noisy frog non-violently, even taking him to a faraway pool with her mother in tow and releasing him there to live peacefully and comfortably away from her bedroom. However, the frog always managed to find his way back. One day, the neighbour’s ginger-coloured tomcat, Pugsy, partially swallowed the frog. It was then that Looby felt so terrible for the frog that she saved him from the clutches of Pugsy. The Frog was wounded and lying unconscious beside Looby, which broke her heart. Looby petted and kissed him gently to revive him, after which the Frog returned to consciousness and started conversing in English.

    However, he did not turn into a handsome prince as Looby’s grandfather thought would happen if his granddaughter kissed the frog. Instead, this frog retold the story of his recent adventure to a very curious and patient Looby. He informed her that he was an ordinary 12-year-old pre-teen boy. A week ago, he was spending his summer vacation at his seaside adventure camp while his parents were off trekking in the Amazon rainforest, which they did every year. Diving off the coast the previous Sunday, he bumped into a hideous-looking waterwitch who turned him into a frog. She said he would never return to normal unless he did something good for another person without expecting anything. Since then, he found himself in Looby’s backyard or garden pond and had been croaking away, thinking that he probably had to do something good for her to turn back into a 12-year-old boy and return to his family before the summer vacation ended or his family would get worried about him. The summer vacation that year was going to end in 8 days, and before that, he was keen on turning back into a 12-year-old boy.

    On hearing his intriguing story, Looby was keen on helping him out as long as he stopped his incessant croaking and roomed with her in her bedroom away from Pugsy the tomcat, who had evil intentions for the frog. She made a special aquarium for him that very day and placed him in it. She accidentally fell asleep due to many days of sleep deprivation, and after she awakened, she turned to check whether the aquarium or frog tank was still there or whether she had dreamt of the whole episode. The tank was still there with the frog in it, but he had stopped both croaking and talking. Instead, he stared at her quietly and intently whenever she tried to converse with him. Soon, she started questioning her sanity as she returned to a normal state, especially her sleep schedule.

    One night at around 12:40 am, the frog woke the sleeping Looby up by croaking desperately as he used to. Looby was shocked to hear him croaking in this manner but then realized the reason for the same. Gas had been leaked in her home because of a faulty bathroom geyser that her father had worked on without the help of a professional. This led to severe and dangerous gas leakage, which could have blown up the house or could have set the house on fire. The authorities arrived on time to save the family from the crisis successfully, along with reprimanding Looby’s father for trying to fix the geyser on his own as a ‘do-it-yourself’ project because gas was never to be tampered so carelessly with. While all this was happening, Looby realized the frog had saved her family’s life. She headed straight back to her bedroom when she found the frog missing from his tank. Instead, she saw giant webbed footprints, part of a young pre-teen’s scuba diving outfit, walking out of her bedroom, down her stairs, then out of her house, and getting lost in the garden and further from her home. She realized, therefore, that because of his good deed, the frog had been successfully turned into a pre-teen boy again and had started his journey back to his parents home before that year’s summer vacation could end or before they returned from trekking in the Amazon.

    Analysis

    Dogbird:

    As stated earlier, all the stories were cleanly humorous and also indicated an indirect moral at the end of the story. None of the novels could better define this statement than the novel ‘Dogbird’. Though Dogbird was accepted in the home of Alice and her parents, he found his forever home in her grandmother’s house because her grandmother would accept Dogbird for who he was and because he was helpful to her as an indirect protector.

    However, there is another implicit aspect that we, as IB or IGCSE teachers, can also identify with while reading about the grandmother’s relationship with the budgie. Notice that when the budgie lived with Alice and her family, he would only bark or growl incessantly and viciously like a dog. However, the moment he started living with Alice’s grandmother, he barked only when he needed to do so to protect her. Instead, he began speaking to the grandmother, occasionally using words and phrases he picked up from her. This indicates that her acceptance of his uniqueness and her putting him at ease brought out the budgie tendencies hidden within him all the time, apart from his unique but annoying characteristic. If Alice and her family had probably been more affectionate and accepting of the budgie while he was with them, he would have stopped barking incessantly. Notice that even when Alice’s family named the budgie, they called him tauntingly by the rather rude name of Dogbird. In contrast, the grandmother gave him the decent and endearing name of Bluey, giving him the respect that a new family member was due.

    Another factor worth pondering is the sudden rush to get the budgie free into the wild after the three labradors attacked Dogbird. It is evident that Alice’s family did not want the bird, and Alice knew it was also becoming a nuisance in the neighborhood. She wanted a budgie in the house to speak and sing to her human words, not to talk only barking sounds that dogs could understand. Therefore, all these factors were put into play and set off by the catalyst of the budgie being attacked by the three black labradors that induced Alice and even Katie to set Dogbrid free into the wild. That is a highly grey characteristic we see in Alice and Katie per se. Still, the fact that she saved the budgie from imminent doom immediately when his kind did not accept him negated that the bird’s release was maliciously done to get rid of him.

    This particular story contained within this omnibus titled ‘Dogbird and Other Mixed-Up Tales’ by Paul Stewart is the only one that is realistic and does not contain a fantasy element. This made the novel seem more believable than the other two and more relatable because the issues faced by all the characters and their reactions to the same were probably how most human beings would react in such an extraordinary circumstance. The grandmother’s response to Dogbird was, however, very touching, making the young PYP reader realize that the grandmother was one of those individuals who lived an ordinary life in an extraordinary manner with compassion and lots of love.

    Coming to the bird itself, the budgie, as I have mentioned before, is the classic 1990s pet bird (also known as a parakeet, especially in the USA) that one would, as the decade progressed, see in every other kid’s birdcage at home or in their private garden. They were bred in various colours to be housed as pets as they were amiable, had a vast vocabulary, were not as vicious or moody as parrots, were great singers, could be easily trained if adopted when young, and because of hobby breeders keeping them in custody for decades together, they had acquired the tendency to live much longer than other pet birds.

    Dogbird was a blue-white and yellow male budgie or parakeet, which is not the ordinary colour of this bird species found originally in the wild. Only green-yellow budgies are found in the wild; the colour mutation breeding was done to sell these colourful and cute-looking birds as pets. That was yet another reason why when Dogbird was let out into the wild, the other birds were unwilling to accept him because he did not look like a regular budgie or parakeet of the wild. He looked like an alien, and usually, birds are not so tolerant of aliens. They prefer to eliminate such a creature rather than risk being hurt by them. That probably accounts for the wild birds’ unruly behavior towards Dogbird in the novel.

    The Were-Pig:

    There were more direct explicit images in this novel titled ‘The Were-Pig’ than implicit ones. This is because the novel was directly related to the theme of fantasy rather than based on a real animal’s story. In ‘The Were-Pig’, we see a little wild side to the author Paul Stewart, where he hints directly that Albert’s maternal grandmother was probably a witch who delved into magic. That is perhaps why she was considered a strange one in her family and an added reason why Albert’s mother was a single parent fending for herself and her only son. We see the inclusion of single-parent children in his novel ‘The Were-Pig’ and the difficulties they go through when they are misunderstood. Yet despite so many positive and intriguing aspects to this particular novel, which incorporates very well the inclusiveness reserved for a perfect IB and IGCSE education, the novel is lacking in a proper plot, suspense and Albert seems like a weak character at the end of the novel compared to his astounding maternal grandmother and brave single parent mother whom we as readers wished we saw more of in this novel. It would have probably added some direction to an otherwise weak plot.

    We are told the bare minimum about these two independent and unconventional women, just that Albert’s mother had divorced her husband recently, was a working single mother, and left home at 7:00 am and returned home around 12 hours later. She, therefore, needed the assistance of her mother, Nan Tucker, who was an unconventional grandmother who did not look the part at all, especially with her slim and trim figure, her bright brown hair, her green eyes, plaited long and colourful skirts, beads in her hair and her penchant for playing the guitar, telling amazing stories, allowing Albert the free will to pick strange things up from the road, etc. We, as readers, hoped to see more of these two daring women in the novel, but the novel drifted toward Albert’s school life, which did not attract as much attention because of Albert’s underdevelopment as a character.

    Albert’s mother was not even given a name, which is surprising when such a meaningful, inclusive element had been introduced by the author Paul Stewart in the form of a single parent; why introduce such an eye-catching and inclusive element to the story and then neglect to name the intriguing character? As mentioned before in the analysis, the book was published in the year 2002, when such themes were not common in the juvenile fiction of the day, but if anyone took the trouble to normalize this situation, they would have at least the decency of giving a name to the mother or a proper description of her profession! It is the least the author can do to give dignity to his character. Nevertheless, this was a start in the genre that would develop significantly over a remarkable decade of inclusivity in children’s literature, which would blossom into the courageous, bold, and stunning new genre of juvenile literature post-2014. In 2025, when this review is being typed, the symbol of the single-parent mother is highly glorified rather than hidden in the background of a story, novel, or even a bestselling series.

    As mentioned earlier, the plot is weak, and the theme of the were-pig intrigues the reader, but the insatiable appetite of Albert when he turns into a were-pig is not pleasing or intriguing to the eye to witness. One tends to gawk at the food-devouring were-pig waiting for some real action to take place, which never does happen. Nevertheless, it was a feel-good read, though not as humourous as ‘Dogbird’ and ‘The Watch-Frog’. A sight for sore eyes is to see the female homeroom teacher of Albert’s being inclusively represented as a Black-British woman and thankfully not painted according to the caricature of a damsel in distress, which was the epitome of what most of the juvenile books of the 1980s and 1990s were all about. This kind of inclusivity is in keeping with the English curriculum of an IB or IGCSE student and can be analyzed and critiqued by the PYP 3rd or 4th-grade student in their UOI or Unit of Inquiry class.

    The homeroom teacher is depicted here as a villain who tends to pick on Albert whenever he is caught off guard. Her name was Mrs. Wilkinson, and this is a daring and unique feature of this novel titled ‘The Were-Pig’. The notion of being free enough to depict Black-British or Black-American characters as villains or negative characters boldly only managed to strike a permanent ground in 2015 without unduly harming the sentiments related to that particular community in the field of literature. It was fascinating to see Mrs. Wilkinson pulling the slop bucket off Albert’s little head and trying to visualize that portion. It can bring a bit of a chuckle in any young reader, considering the otherwise nondescript Albert trying to get into trouble by getting himself uselessly stuck in a bucket of slop and potato peels!

    There is an indication that the story’s ending was partly due to some magic hidden up the sleeve of Nan Tucker, as is evident from the mysterious disappearance of the Mars Bar from Albert’s tiffin box or lunch box. This similar element is also seen in the third novel titled ‘The Watch-Frog’, where it seems like Looby’s grandfather had something up his sleeve when he dropped a hint to Looby to try and steal a kiss from the annoying frog in her backyard. Where the former story was concerned, however, the Grandmother gave a direct indication that she could have been responsible for the strange happenings in Albert’s day at school, while the latter, Looby’s grandfather, does not make an appearance after the 12-year-old boy cum frog leaves her residence to return to his parents.

    The Watch-Frog:

    In ‘The Watch-Frog’, a novel published by Paul Stewart in 2003, a year soon after ‘The Were-Pig’, one sees that Paul Stewart tries to redeem his glaring plot holes or lack thereof in the story of friendship between two very different people: a frog who is out to return to his human absentee parents and Looby, or A.K.A. Louise Mitchell, who wants to regain her beauty sleep by wishing a frog in her pond to grow silent for a change!

    These two very different people are not out to romance each other but to help each other out so as not to make the 12-year-old boy’s absentee parents worried about his absence from the seaside adventure camp and their home. The themes or virtues implied are compassion, mercy, helpfulness, and gratefulness or being thankful. All these virtues are part of the PYP IB or International Board student’s overall incorporated 12 Attitudes to foster some fundamental IB values, beliefs, and feelings in the concerned student. They would fall into the categories of:

    1. Appreciation

    2. Commitment

    3. Empathy

    4. Integrity and

    5. Respect

    Though the two children show exemplary compassion, commitment, and gratitude for their service to each other, we see some negative aspects in their fellow adults. The 12-year-old boy’s parents are intellectual adventurists who prefer leaving to go off trekking to the Amazon rain forest for a whole month without even seeing their son, who would be sent off to a seaside adventure camp till they would arrive back. It is evident from the sub-plot of the story that the boy’s absence from the camp would only be reported to the absentee parents another 8 days after the boy’s mysterious disappearance. Yet, in his distress, the ever-faithful son is not concerned about his predicament as he recounts his ordeal to Looby. Instead, he wishes to return to his normal form to return to his parent’s home before the summer vacation ends, as they would be worried upon returning to England and hearing that their son has been missing for the past 16 or more days! The boy’s respect and admiration for his parents and their job is evident from his reason for returning to them.

    However, the absentee parents seem too irresponsible in this instance. The story is set in 2002 when mobile phones and other forms of telecommunication were readily available and affordable enough to Westerners. The 12-year-old boy’s parents were probably research scientists, and it would be necessary for them to carry several forms of telecommunication with them while on their trekking. Yet, they felt it impossible to contact their only son during this long absence. This sounds too neglectful on their part rather than making us as readers sympathize with them, saying that they were busy individuals with no time other than their personal affairs.

    Also, Looby’s mother and father were quite careless individuals, with Looby’s mother being unsure about how to conduct herself with her daughter concerning the sleep issue or the presence of the perpetually croaking frog. Even Looby’s father showed his absolute carelessness and disregard for his family’s safety when he tried to fix the geyser on his own, causing a terrible gas leak that could have taken their lives if the frog had not alerted Looby on time. Therefore, this novel shows several cases of careless parents who seem disinterested in their family’s or children’s wellbeing. Even Looby’s dark circles and bags don’t startle her parents enough to take it upon themselves to get rid of the frog for the sake of their little girl. This was startling yet somewhat relatable compared to the exaggerated parenting style of the Wormwoods starring in Roald Dahl’s international bestselling and perennial favourite novel ‘Matilda’. To read up on my book review of the novel ‘Matilda’ check it out on my bookish and literary blog insaneowl.com.

    The Wormwoods were absolute disasters as parents for little Matilda. In contrast, many things were redeemable about Looby’s parents, especially their concern for her welfare and sleep deprivation. This can be seen in the fact that where the former was concerned, they made her have the tallest and quietest bedroom in the house to rest in, while where the latter was concerned, they constantly inquired after her health and sleep, or lack thereof.

    Conclusion

    Thus, Paul Stewart’s three books in this omnibus titled ‘Dogbird and Other Mixed-Up Tales’ were entertaining, an excellent tool for value education or what we call in an IGCSE or IB school as the subject Wellbeing, a light read, and an extremely well-illustrated one indeed. Tony Ross, the illustrator, has worked well with Paul Stewart to create memorable illustrations and caricatures for this omnibus that can easily make the younger PYP reader laugh out loud and yet learn some excellent IB Fundamentally Positive Attitudes along the way as prescribed by the IBO. I’ve noticed that when Tony Ross gets along well with his author colleague, the project they mutually work on turns out very well. Paul Stewart seems like an expert in moralistic subtle humour for juvenile readers. It would seem like, unlike Roald Dahl, he tends to move towards the absurd and even the sentimental, something similar to the plots of David Walliams, the protégé of Roald Dahl or, as most initial fans of Walliams call him, the true heir to Roald Dahl fame. I hope to read and review more books illustrated by Tony Ross in the near future.

    I look forward to reading, reviewing, and analyzing more PYP or Primary Years Programme-related books in the fiction and non-fiction categories in light of the International Baccalaureate.

    Special Note

    If you are interested in more book reviews, indie author interviews, book analyses, short story analyses, poems, essays, essay analyses, and other bookish content, check out my blog, insaneowl.com. If you are interested in purchasing my books, you can check the products page on Amazon. There is a lot of good stuff to buy! Happy reading to you always!

    ©2025 Fiza Pathan

  • ‘The Crazy World of Ms Wiz’ by Terence Blacker

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    Title of the Book: The Crazy World of Ms Wiz

    Author: Terence Blacker

    Publisher: Macmillan Children’s Books

    Publication Year: Omnibus Edition 2004

    Pages: 187 pgs.

    ISBN: 9780330431361/0-330-43136-6

    Age Group: PYP & MYP (Grades 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th)

    Genre: Children’s Fantasy

    IBDP & IGCSE Subjects Covered: English Language & English Literature

    Review Written By: Fiza Pathan

    Introduction

    ‘Where there is a woman there is magic.’

    -Ntozake Shange (American playwright, poet & novelist)

    ‘I’ve always believed in the above quote. So I was keen on reading this omnibus titled ‘The Crazy World of Ms Wiz’, which is a collection of three of the Ms Wiz novels penned by Terence Blacker with some awesome illustrations done by Tony Ross of the Roald Dahl and David Walliams, fame. Any book where a woman prefers to be referred to by the ambiguous Ms rather than the clearer Mrs and Miss is always up my alley, even as an IB and IGCSE teacher in training. When I realized after reading a few pages of this omnibus that Ms Wiz did not like to be referred to by the prefix Mrs or Miss because they seemed too ‘drab’ that caught my attention, and then I started diving deep into the magical world of Ms Wiz the witch or rather, the paranormal operator as she likes to call herself and her wonderful batch of third-grade students who loved her style of teaching and relating to them as friends more than students.

    I think the last line explains why I probably relished the Ms Wiz omnibus, especially the first book in the series titled ‘Ms Wiz Spells Trouble’ which is the book in which Ms Wiz is introduced to the class of third-form students at St. Barnabas School situated in England. I relished it because the way Ms Wiz taught or rather educated her students was so in keeping with the IB method of teaching, which is in a way made up of ‘magic’ that, in a sense, this kind of education puts the onus on the student concerning their development and role in the education process or their learning. It teaches them individual self-efficacy, which is a kind of ‘magic’ in itself because then the teacher is more of a facilitator to aid the child to excel at their own pace in the subjects of their choices for an all-round development, which is what a proper IB or International Board Education is all about.

    Ms Wiz is the epitome of the ideal IB teacher who teaches magic more than subjects and creates ethically minded and yet successful students for life who will make a positive difference to the world rather than just parrots who can repeat subject content verbatim without analyzing the connecting dots or lines in between their subjects of study. Whether it was the smart Alec Jack, the meek Podge, the lazy Caroline, or the girl with gumption, Katrina, Ms Wiz managed to teach all the IDEA students effectively, catering to their individual needs and making them fit enough to tackle their own educational needs for the rest of their lives for the betterment of themselves and others. I saw the IDEA students imprinted in every student in this series who were taught and nurtured by the amazing Ms Wiz. Indeed, it is, therefore, quite true that where there is a woman sans her patriarchal conditioning, there will always be magic.

    I saw a lot of things that Ms Wiz cast aside that she felt were not in keeping with the overall positive development of her wards at St. Barnabas School, including patriarchy and what patriarchy determined that a female teacher should look like, teach like, speak like and even have a prefix to her name. This was revolutionary on the part of Terence Blacker to inculcate in the minds of younger readers as far back as 1988 when the first book in this series was published in Great Britain.

    Book Synopsis

    As mentioned in the introduction, this omnibus by Terence Blacker, illustrated by the well-renowned and loved Tony Ross, contains three books from the Ms Wiz series. They are:

    1. Ms Wiz Spells Trouble (1988)

    2. In Stitches With Ms Wiz (1989)

    3. You’re Nicked Ms Wiz (1989)

    The first book was published in 1988 after which the following year in 1989, the other two books in the Ms Wiz series were published back-to-back. The following are the condensed storylines of each Ms Wiz novel:

    1. Ms Wiz Spells Trouble

    This is the novel where Ms Wiz is first introduced to the third-form students of St. Barnabas School as their new homeroom teacher. The third-form students were always considered a difficult batch of students that no homeroom teacher at St. Barnabas could handle. However, Ms Wiz, with her unconventional ways, dressing sense, name, and, of course, her magic, managed to set the third-form students in order on the first day itself, and from then on, the students took to her like several moths to a flame. They enjoyed coming to school and learning new subjects and topics, especially researching them, similar to the IB and IGCSE styles of education. Ms Wiz would also bring live pets, specimens, and animals to the class to demonstrate the topic of study or under study more elaborately and to the utter delight of the students. They especially loved it whenever Ms Wiz brought along to school her pet rat named Herbert. However, the students were warned by Ms Wiz never to divulge to the outside world about their magical world and that she was a witch or, rather, a paranormal operator. The students kept their promise. But the school authorities started smelling a rat, which would be more than just the occasional appearance of Herbert the rat, and so they started spying on Ms Wiz’s class. In turn, these teachers or other authority figures got turned into ducks, geese, pigs, et al., whenever they would try to meddle in the affairs of Ms Wiz and her third-form students. Nothing would stop the students of the third form from excelling in all their studies and extra-curricular activities. On the final prize distribution day ceremony, they were all in for a surprise when they realized that their favorite teacher of all time, Ms Wiz, would leave their school forever. They try to stop her but end up knowing that even without Ms Wiz’s magic, they can still be excellent math wizards, sportsmen or women, all-rounders, etc. Therefore, Ms Wiz, as a teacher or paranormal operator, only appeared when children needed extra magic in their lives to make their world a better place. Ms Wiz, after bidding adieu to them, took off into the sky on her vacuum cleaner, reminding them that they would once in a while see her again whenever they or their friends needed some magic in their lives.

    2. In Stitches With Ms Wiz

    In this novel in the Ms Wiz series, the third-form student Jack is suddenly caught with terrible pain in his lower abdomen. Since his parents were absentee nonchalant parents, they did not pay attention to Jack’s trouble, nor did his quite heartless new third-form homeroom teacher, a self-centered male named Mr. Bailey. Mr. Bailey even thought poor Jack was faking the pain in his abdomen due to an upcoming Math test. Finally, however, Jack was taken in an ambulance to the hospital when, on arrival, it was determined that he had a swollen appendix. It was so swollen that if he had come any time later, he would have been in serious trouble. Jack, however, made it and had his appendix removed in the absence of his parents and little sister. However, to his luck with his obnoxious surgeon consultant was another doctor who looked vaguely familiar to him. To his surprise and joy, he later realized that that doctor was his favorite third-form teacher, Ms Wiz. He was glad upon seeing her and wondered what a third-form teacher was doing in a general hospital helping out a surgeon! To that, Ms Wiz revealed that she was aware that this appendix surgery would be tough on Jack, and so she decided to turn into a fake surgeon to assist at his bedside during the operation. As she had mentioned in the earlier book, whenever her students needed a bit of magic to lighten up their lives, Ms Wiz would be there. She inadvertently converted the annoying Franklyn, Jack’s roommate, who managed to witness all the amazing magic that took place during Jack’s stay at the hospital to her form of teaching and magic. Meanwhile, Mr. Bailey, the self-centered new third-form teacher, realized that he had done a great injustice to Jack by mistreating him at school when poor Jack was truly having terrible abdominal pain, which later on turned out to be appendicitis. Mr. Bailey tries to set things right by visiting Jack in the hospital when his parents and little sister are around. Unfortunately, he ends up making an even greater fool of himself by eating up Jack’s appendix, thinking it to be the hospital’s rubbery food! This was done through the magic of Ms Wiz to teach the heartless third-form teacher a lesson. Along with cheering up Jack and Franklyn, attending to the needs of other lonely patients in the hospital, and flooding the hospital with a lot of white rodents due to not being able to locate the whereabouts of Herbert, the white pet rat of Ms Wiz, Ms Wiz managed to cause quite a ruckus in the hospital after which she made off on her vacuum cleaner. Jack made it out of the hospital, good to go, but Podge, his classmate who truly wanted to miss a Math test at school, taking a cue from Jack, also pretended to be having abdominal pain and tried to get into the hospital to be with Ms Wiz. When he, at the last moment, realized that Ms. Wiz was just about to leave the hospital and he would be alone to tackle the mean consultant surgeon in the hospital, he managed to save himself from being operated upon by getting off the bed and running for his dear life!

    3. You’re Nicked Ms Wiz

    In this novel, a little girl known well to Ms Wiz lost her pet cat over the school week. Her name was Lizzie, and she was in the third form at St. Barnabus School with the other third form students taught earlier by Ms Wiz. Mr. Bailey, the new third-form teacher, could not understand the seriousness of Lizzie’s pain being separated from her cat, Waif or Waify. He pooh-poohed her sorrow, which annoyed most of the students of the third form who were formerly students of Ms Wiz. However, Lizzie was not about to give up on her search for Waify, so she started putting up missing posters of him all over town and even personally tried looking for him herself. In the bargain, she met up with a female tramp who happened to be her former teacher, Ms Wiz, in disguise. Again, Ms Wiz had returned to help Lizzie find her pet cat with a little bit of her magic. The story goes on to indicate how Ms Wiz tried to save Waify from a set of mismatched cat kidnappers while the local police were under the mistaken impression that Lizzie had been kidnapped by a female tramp named Ms Wiz who was known to Jack and Caroline, her former students. Ms Wiz, to save Waify, turned Lizzie into a cat to creep into the lair of the kidnappers, upon which she realized that the cats’ fur was going to be used to make gloves for a soulless elite individual called Mrs. D’Arcy and then later would be killed. She tried notifying Ms Wiz about the same but was stuck in the lair because the foolish local police had nabbed Ms Wiz. Ms Wiz, after turning the local police force into white rabbits, then managed, with the help of Jack and Caroline, to head straight to the kidnappers’ lair to stop the malicious Mrs. D’Arcy from having her way with the innocent cats. With the aid of her magic, Ms Wiz manages to save Waify and the other cats, turn Lizzie back into a human being, make a human being out of a cat kidnapper, and renders Mrs. D’Arcy naked, which almost stunned the local police inspector into a state of hysterical laughter and shock at the same time. Thereby, Ms Wiz, as a tramp, proved helpful to her little friends when they needed her and her magic the most.

    Book Analysis

    “What is a teacher? I’ll tell you: it isn’t someone who teaches something, but someone who inspires the student to give of her best in order to discover what she already knows.”

    ― Paulo Coelho (from his book ‘The Witch of Portobello’)

    As mentioned in the introduction, Ms Wiz’s style of educating or imparting education to her students in the third form reminded me a lot about how a Cambridge or International Board Teacher or IB Teacher conducts herself. This is enshrined in the quote by internationally well-renowned author Paulo Coelho words in the quote I’ve mentioned above because a teacher like Ms Wiz teaches the student not only individual self-efficacy but also manages to create an ethically minded global citizen who can help in the sustainable development of the world and the cosmos through innovation, positivity and active participation in all forms of constructive technological advancement world over. These students then don’t remain merely students but turn into teachers in their own right who teach their skills to others, spreading wide the circle to create inclusion for all and sundry.

    The students of Form Three in St. Barnabus School were very ethically sound and could excel at whatever they needed to in life; they just needed that confidence and validation from an innovative teacher to gear them toward achieving their goals and fulfilling their ultimate potential already inherent in them. I think Ms Wiz, especially in the first book in this omnibus, namely, ‘Ms Wiz Spells Trouble’ manages to inculcate:

    1. The 12 IB or International Board Attitudes she wished her students to imbibe, namely:

    • Appreciation
    • Commitment
    • Confidence
    • Cooperation
    • Creativity
    • Curiosity
    • Empathy
    • Enthusiasm
    • Independence
    • Integrity
    • Respect
    • Tolerance

    2. The Five IB Skills a Student Needs to Change the World for the better, namely:

    • Thinking Skills
    • Social Skills
    • Communication Skills
    • Self-Management Skills
    • Research Skills

    3. She even incorporated the Cambridge Learners Attributes in her students, namely making her students:

    (i) Confident

    (ii) Responsible

    (iii) Reflective

    (iv) Innovative

    (v) Engaged

    4. She even strove to create various IB Learner Profiles within her third-form students to make them into internationally minded citizens who recognized their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, which would help create a better and peaceful world. These IB Learner Profiles are:

    1. Inquirers

    2. Knowledgeable

    3. Thinkers

    4. Communicators

    5. Principled

    6. Open-minded

    7. Caring

    8. Risk-Takers

    9. Balanced

    10. Reflective

    One can see and witness all this when one reads the three books in this omnibus. One could then easily think that the author and creator of the Ms Wiz series, Terence Blacker, probably knew something about the Cambridge and IB forms of education. Here are some examples from the various three books in this omnibus titled ‘The Crazy World of Ms. Wiz’ to illustrate the points put forward:

    Example 1:

    In the book ‘Ms Wiz Spells Trouble, ’ Podge was never known to be able to excel at any sporting event due to him being plus size. But Ms Wiz encouraged him to be a risk taker, which is part of the IB Learner Profile and created a lot of confidence, enthusiasm, and independence in him, which are essential IB Attitudes to undertake the many sporting events conducted by St. Barnabus School where he emerged as the undisputed winner of all the games, first with a little help via Ms Wiz’s magic and then all on his own. By the time Ms Wiz left at the end of the book on her vacuum cleaner, Podge had even stunned his indifferent and bossy parents by his capabilities as a sportsman.

    Example 2:

    In the novel ‘You’re Nicked Ms. Wiz’, because of the proper training done by Ms Wiz in the third form with her students, Lizzie was able to be empathetic, committed, and independent enough to turn into a risk taker to seek out her lost cat Waify despite the nonchalance of Mr. Bailey. Her love and commitment to the safety of her cat made her take on the responsibility of seeking Waify out herself. She was pushed to put up numerous posters of the cat all over town on her own, thereby incorporating not only a lot of IB Learner Attributes but also some of the major Cambridge Leaner Attributes, like being confident, responsible, and engaged.

    Example 3:

    In the novel ‘In Stitches With Ms. Wiz,’ the third-form student Caroline, studying with Jack, because of her empathetic nature, immediately recognizes that Jack is not fibbing when he states to Mr. Bailey that he is indeed getting a lot of discomfort and pain in his abdomen. She even coaxed Mr. Bailey to call the hospital, which showed her independent spirit, her risk-taking capabilities, and her confidence in dealing with a rather difficult homeroom teacher, not to mention that she was committed and responsible for the welfare of her friend Jack. If one had studied the previous novel in this omnibus, ‘Ms Wiz Spells Trouble’ then one would have realized that before Ms Wiz came into Caroline’s life, Caroline was a rather laid back and lazy student tending to always daydream in class and not having any reason to excel in her studies or other extra-curricular activities. After Ms Wiz inculcated in her a sense of direction and motivation, the class dreamer turned over the term into the class spokesperson and a very committed and talented student, especially falling in the category of an Independent Learner according to the IB and Cambridge theory of the four different IDEA Learners in a classroom. One would notice the witty Caroline later on giving Mr. Bailey a hard time for having driven poor Jack almost to the brink and creating, in turn, a comically guilty conscience in Mr. Bailey.

    Example 4:

    In the novel ‘Ms Wiz Spells Trouble’, we notice that at the beginning of the third form, Jack is an Emerging Learner in Mathematics. All his previous teachers treated him like a dunce, so he never developed his abilities in Mathematics any further. But when Ms Wiz came into his life and taught him Math through a lot of magic and some innovative teaching techniques, which involved a lot of kinesthetic and visual learning among the various types of learning techniques according to Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theory, then Jack turned into a Developing Learner in Mathematics and then finally into such an amazing Independent Learner that at the Prize distribution ceremony it was he who won the award for outstanding performance in Mathematics in the whole school. Thus, Ms. Wiz developed in Jack a sense of confidence in himself and his mathematical capabilities, making him a risk-taker ready to reflect on his various approaches toward a sum. Then, he became highly knowledgeable and enthusiastic in this subject, which earlier used to be his bete noir.

    Further Points for Analysis

    Here are a few extra points one can analyze from a literary point of view from the omnibus titled ‘The Crazy World Of Ms Wiz’ by author Terence Blacker and illustrator Tony Ross.

    • Feminism

    One notices that Ms Wiz is a hard-core feminist who does not abide by the laws set down by patriarchal society, including in the way she wishes people and students to address her. She did not wish to be defined as a person by her relationship with a man, that is, through the prefixes Mrs. or Miss. She wished to be an independent woman, feeling that whether she was married or not was none of anyone’s business and did not define her as a teacher or a paranormal operator. She even refuses to use the word ‘witch’ to define her profession, which is indeed a negative patriarchally created sexist connotation to define a woman who knew magic. In the same context, a male who knew magic would only be termed a wizard or a warlock, both of which do not hold the negative connotations easily evident in the former term ‘witch’. She instead wishes to call herself something neutral, like a paranormal operator, where her gender would not define her capabilities as an adept in the art of white magic. Ms Wiz, a third form teacher, dresses oddly; she paints her nails with black nail polish, making herself look like a punk, wears, at times, black lipstick, is loud as a person, wears black heavy metal clothing to school and treats her students like one of her own little friends rather than her juniors and so her students were in awe of her and yet were very friendly and fond of her. One especially saw this in the book ‘Ms Wiz Spells Trouble’ on the sports field whenever Ms Wiz, like the students, would also jump up and down on her seat to cheer her students participating in the various races and games that day. Ms Wiz was never known to be living with anyone else and was always on her own with her China-figure cat Hecate and her white rat Herbert to keep her company. She knew how to make any space homely and comfy, as is shown in ‘You’re Nicked Ms Wiz’, where she even manages to make a tramp’s broken-down car into a haven of delights for herself, her pets, and her guest Lizzie. Ms Wiz was not bashful and bold in dealing with dangers and with tyrannical men who tried to put her down or with anyone who tried to harm her students. Her independent spirit, self-assurance, self-actualization qualities, and calm disposition make her an ideal feminist candidate worthy of emulation.

    • One Inconsistency

    In the book ‘You’re Nicked Ms Wiz’ one notices that when Ms Wiz is being dragged away from the kidnapper’s den by the police inspector, she does not use her magic then to turn them into white rabbits but waits for a full night to pass till she can do just this in the presence of Jack and Caroline, who technically were not needed for the magic act to take place. This she does even though Lizzie is in grave trouble as she was stuck in the kidnapper’s den as a cat in danger of being skinned off her fur and then killed with the other cats. I thought it to be a severe inconsistency on the part of Terence Blacker to have created this particular sub-plot twist in the story because it was not exactly needed for Ms Wiz to prove her innocence to the police at the cost of an innocent little child’s life. Ms Wiz could have, then and there, outside the lair, turned the policemen into white rabbits en masse. She could have gone on to save Lizzie rather than allowing herself to be dragged away and locked in prison. There was no question of a long-distance issue in this instance either because at least the police were near her, and she could have easily turned them into rabbits because of the proximity. I noted this inconsistency in the third book in this omnibus.

    • Note on Tony Ross’ Illustrations

    If one were to notice the Tony Ross illustrations in this omnibus titled ‘The Crazy World of Ms Wiz’, one would notice that Tony Ross followed a style similar to his drawings of the Horrid Henry Series by Francesca Simon. One can see the same dark blush red in the cheeks of Ms Wiz as it is in Horrid Henry, the more vibrant dark colours rather than the usual Quentin Blake style faded watercolor splashes as in the Roald Dahl books; one can also see the strong and well formed drawing lines rather than the sketchy and messy lines of the Roald Dahl books. However, as the series progresses, Tony Ross seems in a hurry or at odds with the author, for I see a certain hastiness in the illustrations to get the work done. There is no soul in most of the drawings therein though some were drawn with a deft hand, especially in the book ‘You’re Nicked Ms Wiz’, but there were many scrawls done in several places that were inconsistent with the overall illustrative style theme of this series as was shown in the first book ‘Ms Wiz Spells Trouble’. One would decipher that there was some acrimony between Tony Ross and Terence Blacker, as Tony Ross’ name is only mentioned as an afterthought at the back of this omnibus where the ISBN and ASIN are placed! That is not something done in a book where the illustrations play more of a plot guide than anything else and are the heart and soul of the various stories. I did not feel that was done in good taste either by Terence Blacker or by the publishers in question because, as an indie-publisher myself, I make sure to publish the name of my illustrator at the front of my children’s books, especially my books in the Rare Classics Series where I adapt and abridge rare classics for younger readers. It is not good publishing ethics to divert attention and credit due to the illustrator to the author of a juvenile fiction illustrated book or a PYP/MYP or Lower Secondary book, which took place here in this omnibus. Otherwise, the illustrations were good enough, just that they were a bit sketchy, inconsistent, and drawn in a hurry. Compared to the illustrations done by the same Tony Ross in the David Walliams books like ‘Demon Dentist’, ‘Awful Aunty’, ‘Ratburger’ or even something that I am reading recently, which is another PYP read titled ‘Dogbird and Other Mixed Up Tales’ by Paul Stewart, Tony Ross’ illustrations there are firm, neat, beautifully done and very poignant to the plot and not messy at all or drawn in a hurry.

    Conclusion

    As I mentioned, Ms Wiz reminded me a lot about myself as a teacher – not bashful, highly feminist, innovative, captivating for some reason, unconventional, loyal, highly principled, etc. That is why I took easily to her stories and felt that she is the epitome of what an IGCSE or IB teacher should be to create world citizens for the future. I identified very much with Ms Wiz, especially in how I relate to students as my friends more than my juniors or subordinates. I don’t appreciate that ‘talk them down’ attitude at all, and I prefer a comforting and friendly atmosphere in my classroom where there is a lot of communication but at the same time a form of discipline as well for the sake of classroom decorum and for the sake of maintaining peace for others to work in. Mind you, Ms Wiz was also of the same opinion and would not sacrifice decorum in the classroom for the sake of activity. Form Three at St. Barnabus could have fun, but Ms Wiz held them responsible for maintaining some discipline in the classroom. I may not be a paranormal operator, but I have unique ways of keeping peace and having fun, whether it be in a PYP, MYP, IGCSE, or IBDP classroom. Even if I am placed in a higher MYP or IBDP or A Levels classroom, I will make that classroom colourful and lively like a PYP classroom. Truly, I saw a lot of myself in the personality of Ms Wiz, and I hope to emulate her to a greater extent as the PGCITE course continues this year.

    Special Note

    If you are interested in more book reviews, indie author interviews, book analyses, short story analyses, poems, essays, essay analyses, and other bookish content, check out my blog, insaneowl.com. If you are interested in purchasing my books, you can check the products page of my blog or on Amazon. There is a lot of good stuff to buy! Happy reading to you always!

    ©2025 Fiza Pathan

  • Book Review: ‘Good Talk’ by Mira Jacob

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    Title of the Book: Good Talk

    Author: Mira Jacob

    Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

    Publication Year: 2018

    Pages: 355 pgs.

    ISBN: 978-1-5266-3159-6

    Age Group: IBDP & IGCSE (11th & 12th graders)

    Genre: Graphic Novel Memoir

    IBDP & IGCSE Subjects Covered: Global Perspectives, Sociology, Wellbeing, English language & English literature

    Review Written By: Fiza Pathan

    Introduction

    ‘Good Talk’ by Mira Jacob is a searing social issue graphic novel-cum-memoir, which focuses on the topic affecting the USA in particular as we speak – immigration policies as an offshoot of age-old racial tensions. Whatever may be the outcome of the scenario we are finding ourselves in today, even as Indians from India, through the actions of the US Government, one thing we can be sure of is that as IBDP and IGCSE teachers, we have to realize that diversity should create unity amongst various ethnic races through inclusion and respect for each other. They should not be a source of division amongst IBDP or IGCSE school students. Instead, differences should be celebrated rather than abused or discriminated against, especially in the form of government policies that harm the inclusiveness of any nation.

    Besides, it is a well-known fact that most IBDP and IGCSE students who will be entering the foray of education post-2025 will be immigrants or even refugees, especially now after the long, drawn-out wars between Ukraine and Russia as well as Gaza/Palestine and Israel, not to mention the never-ending tensions taking place in the Middle East, especially in areas like Iraq and Syria. Racial tensions in other Third World Countries like Uganda, Nigeria, Ethiopia, etc. are also places where young students are rescued from being initiated into child labour, child prostitution, and, most importantly, domestic terrorism and tribal warfare. Most of these students are rescued and then educated away from their families and parents under the tutelage of IBDP and IGCSE-run institutions that cater to their educational needs in the light of an inclusive and integrated form of education.

    Therefore, we cannot afford, as a global family, to differentiate between different ethnic groups, races, religions, et al., because then we are creating animosity in the hearts of young individuals who have already gone through a lifetime of war and hatred which will simmer under our own animosity towards them, leading to more violence and wars not to mention racial tensions in the coming years and decades.

    During times like these, books like the graphic novel ‘Good Talk’ come in handy as a great educational tool to educate the 11th and 12th graders about the challenges of stereotypes based on race, gender, and region. It speaks about how to overcome prejudices with hope and love despite the indifference of loved ones, even in one’s own immediate family, because of a mixed-race marriage. It teaches the student about immigration during the 20th century, how NRIs have contributed to the economy of First World Countries like the USA, and how most Indians are an asset to any nation where they reside because of their dedication to their studies and their persevering nature, not to mention their great entrepreneurial abilities.

    Synopsis

    Mira Jacob’s family immigrated to the USA early in the 20th century as Mira’s father was a surgeon and wished to be educated in the USA and work there for better prospects. He married Mira’s mother in a traditional Anglo-Indian Christian arranged marriage and had two children with her – Arun Jacob and the author, Mira Jacob. However, the family, especially dark-skin-toned Mira, had to experience many forms of racism during the whole course of their lives together in various parts of the USA. But nothing was worse than when Mira fell in love and married a White Caucasian American Jew. The memoir goes on to depict her life as the daughter-in-law of two rich and haughty White Republican Jews living in Southern USA and how she manages or does not manage to toe the line between being a daughter-in-law and being a human being with feelings and emotions like other White Americans. The book is an educational tool for her son, who, though a Jew, looks every bit like his mother, including in her dark-tanned skin tone and how he would have to cope with the discrimination he was seeing in his own paternal family on an everyday basis.

    Analysis

    ‘Good Talk’ by stellar author and memoirist Mira Jacob is a must-read for all teachers and students dealing with the 11th and 12th grade curriculum, especially those who have taken the subject GP or Global Perspectives. Mira Jacob gives the reader an excellent bird’s view not only into the mind of her younger self when she was growing up in pre-9/11 USA but also into the mind of her seven-year-old son who was growing up during the time before the 2016 US Presidential Elections. On the topic of differentiating the ‘fact’ from the ‘opinion’, this book does a great job in analyzing that, especially in the case of Anti-Semitism, discrimination post 9/11, discrimination against anyone with a tanned or brown skin tone, and the surprisingly recent taboo topic of inter-racial marriages post the Trump Era.

    We see the evolution of the thoughts of both young Mira and young Z, her son, as the USA progresses to becoming a nation that was sleepwalking as it were through its nagging racial issues and crises. The various global perspectives of the White American friends of Mira and her doting husband Jed, Mira’s in-laws and their White racist, elitist friend circle, and the thoughts of other Black Americans of the USA, NRIs, etc. make this book into a great tool for analysis, collaborative discussions, and debate.

    An IBDP student can quickly develop an understanding of the politics of race in the USA under the eye of the powers that be like billionaires, millionaires, the Roman Catholic Church, White elitist land owners, etc., and can then critically think about how to resolve and solve such differences in the 21st century. In the realms of Sociology, this book can act as a great icebreaker concerning the topic of inter-racial marriages and inter-religious harmony. Mira Jacob, with her wry sense of humor and the jokes of her little son Z, has managed to explain difficult concepts like hierarchies, patrilineal families, sexual assaults on the basis of race, ethnocentrism, etc., in a lucid and easy-to-comprehend manner. I even appreciated the fights between Jed and Mira merely because they were at their most vulnerable, where things that would otherwise have been difficult to say were said and analyzed very easily. For example, when Jed sees an annoying White racist radio show host as merely ‘a creep’, Mira considers that same host as her perpetual ‘White Competition’, to whom she has to prove her worth over and over again while living in the USA. She had been, in a way, ‘living in’ with this radio host for a much longer time than she had been residing with her husband, Jed.

    The way Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, was used in a creative and very colorful, not to mention nostalgic, way to bring out the pros and cons of ethnocentrism, especially shown by Z, was done brilliantly and with style. Certain comical scenes and questions that would crop up in the mind of a curious seven-year-old, a fan of the King of Pop who was apparently suffering from vitiligo, which made his skin color turn from black to white, was also taken up in an interesting but dignified way in the book.

    Where English literature is concerned, I would compare this memoir of Mira Jacob to the current international bestseller ‘The Arab of the Future: A Childhood in the Middle East’ graphic novel series by French illustrator and memoirist Riad Sattouf as well as ‘Persepolis’ by Iranian illustrator and memoirist Marjane Satrapi. They have the same subtle humorous narrative qualities, the ingenious use of a variety of unique analogies to describe feelings and emotions never expressed before, and the pop-art color scheme of the graphic illustrations are almost in the same style, highlighting elements that Mira Jacob wanted to put a lot of emphasis upon. Examples: Her being racially discriminated against in her own family due to being more tanned than her elder brother Arun, or emotions expressed in her son Z’s face and silence when he knew that his paternal grandparents did not believe that dark-skinned boys like him were harassed over the color of their skin.

    The narration was free-flowing with variations in tone and severity compared to the suspenseful ‘Persepolis’ or the casual but highly entertaining ‘The Arab of the Future’. It is not news reportage in the style of Guy Delisle but social reportage done with more ferocity in certain places. The second half of the book can be a heart-wrenching read that can make the reader shed a tear or two, if not more, after seeing the current scenario in the USA. Mira Jacob, therefore, has been highly prophetic through this book titled ‘Good Talk’ about the immigration issue. The book seems uncomfortably real in all its dangerous aspects that can give the IBDP learner a lot of food for thought regarding how they were going to tackle this international deportation issue and the sustainable development procedures that can be developed in spite of the possibility of the economy of the USA collapsing in a matter of three years.

    Conclusion

    Elegant, forceful, witty, and poignant are the words I would use to describe this book by internationally bestselling Indian American author Mira Jacob. The first major part of the book could have been spruced up a bit, but the second half of the book leaves the reader spellbound and stunned nearly at every turning of the page. By the end of the book, one is contented that hope in the form of responsible and curious citizens of the future, like the inquiring IBDP and IGCSE students of the 21st century, will not allow divisive forces to shake the equanimity in society and the progress towards a more sustainable future where we all live together in harmony and follow the spirit of inclusion and not inane exclusion. In the words of the American voting and women’s rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer:

    “Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.”

    Special Note

    If you are interested in more book reviews, indie author interviews, book analyses, short story analyses, poems, essays, essay analyses, and other bookish content, check out my blog, insaneowl.com. If you are interested in purchasing my books, you can check the products page of my blog or on Amazon. There is a lot of good stuff to buy! Happy reading to you always!

    ©2025 Fiza Pathan

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