Max and the Millions: 1

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Take The Carpet People by Terry Pratchett, Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, and Gregor the Overlander by Suzann Collins, mix them together, and add a surprising twist. This book was ridiculous fun! With sugar-crazed five-year-old-girl army, noble steed fleas, carrot thefts, sparkle-unicorn onesies, and a headmaster I would love to have pushed into a dustbin, Max's adventure is all kinds of hilarious. It also does a nice job of outlining some basic deaf awareness skills and some of the difficulties that deaf children face. I especially loved how receptive Sasha was to some of these things and the little nods to how the two boys adapted their communication to ensure both understood each other. I would definitely have preferred Max to have sign language knowledge or have used alternative communication with Sasha (such as writing) rather than him having lip-reading superpowers that enabled him to understand basically everything Sasha said (that's very unrealistic - only about 30% of speech can be lipread, and that's without accents coming into the mix). It's also rather inappropriate to have the hearing kid teaching the d/Deaf kid to sign. Despite this, I enjoyed how Max's hearing aids were an important part of the story and the focus on him making friends and developing confidence in himself and his ability to communicate. Sasha was wonderful, as was his sister and her sparkle-unicorn minions.

Max and the Millions | Book reviews | RGfE Max and the Millions | Book reviews | RGfE

The plot is delightfully daft and complemented by many subtle social comments about inequality, the abuse of power and the futility of war. This will make children think a lot about the size of things, the interpretations and different viewpoints in a situation. Max's size gives him a new stature to the Floor people, their world is seen as something tiny and insignificant by some full-size characters. From Costa-shortlisted superstar, a highly anticipated standalone adventure about what happens when you find a tiny, living, breathing civilization on the floor of your school dorm room.And on and on the story goes. Max is helped by his roommate Sasha, who didn't go home for summer break, but is still at school running a summer camp for fifty 5-year-old girls. The girls, fueled by candy, also help Max and Sasha in their attempts to outwit the schoolmaster. Much of the story, though, is about the tiny people and their inability to get along. There is lots of violence and threats of violence, although it doesn't seem like anyone actually gets genuinely hurt. There is also the developing friendship between Max and Sasha, as well as Max's attempts to get him to understand the difficulties he has communicating with others. All and all, it is quite an adventure, and I would only recommend it to children who like adventure stories. In addition, those who like witty type humor certainly may appreciate many of the author's attempts to get laughs. The book has some strong themes from friendship and fitting in to the importance of co-operation. These messages are made very explicit by Max and Luke's attempts to bring together the three floor tribes but, fortunately, the surreal storyline prevents this sounding in any way preachy. Max's disability is also well used in the plot, making his lip reading into a skill that's akin to a superpower rather than a negative necessity. After all his kindness, Max feels he owes Mr Darrow. Can he save the tiny people from war? Can he find out what happened to Mr Darrow? And most of all, can he keep Mr Pitt, the evil headmaster away from Mr Darrow’s room while he does it?

Max and the Millions | Anson Primary School Max and the Millions | Anson Primary School

unreservedly accessible pdf archives on the Internet. We don't have any document on our server. In the event Read about the Faber story, find out about our unique partnerships, and learn more about our publishing heritage, awards and present-day activity. It’s an odd one if I’m honest - but I do think is a reflection of my mood at the moment! I wasn’t driven by that nightly desire to read it and the fact it has taken me 8weeks to actually fully read probably says something! But, on reflection, I think I have been a bit harsh towards it! The children will love this, I’m sure. I mean can you image their little minds imagining shrinking to a tiny land that can barely be seen with the eye?! Max is used to spending time alone - it's difficult to make friends in a big, chaotic school when you're deaf. He prefers to give his attention to the little things in life... like making awesome, detailed replica models.

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As much of the story is about the tiny people and their inability to get along- with multiple threats of violence. Pupils will be able to relate their own experiences of not getting along to this novel. A totally off-the-wall story that combines a fast moving plot with some great characterisation and truly wonderful scenes. An absolute must-read for children aged between 8 and 12.” In the vein of The Borrowers and The Indian in the Cupboard, this is an imaginative, irresistible, and incredible exploration into what happens when one boy discovers a kingdom of tiny people. Author Guy Bass introduces SCRAP, about one robot who tried to protect the humans on his planet against an army of robots. Now the humans need his...