Set in the immediate post World War II landscape, The Strange Affair of the Ethiopian Treasure Chest
embraces childhood experiences of those times in a short story. Woven
into a carefree world of friendly “gangs”, secret dens and home-made
excitement with not an X-box in sight, the narrator, Brian, relates his
involvement in tracking down burglars, out-doing the police and winning a
hefty reward.
I thoroughly enjoyed the
read; the simple structure introduces the characters, context and
setting in the opening chapters thus putting a young, fluent reader at
ease. The tone is chatty and informal. The descriptions in this short
96 page story, particularly of the slimy slug policeman and the scary
(or not so scary) old woman, add colour to what is a textually heavy
book for this audience. The illustrations are fabulous; black and white
and pen and ink, but are few and far between making this an ideal
transition between picture-heavy early reads and full length novels.
Satisfying from start to
finish, full of discussion possibilities about childhood in the 1950’s
and 60’s, I recommend this book as a good old-fashioned (in the best
sense of the word!) adventure.
Janet Sims, School Librarian Journal, 59 (Summer 2011)
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