Tickled Onions
Written by
Gleitzman, Tickled Onions is a book
that consists of nine short stories. One of the short stories in Tickled Onions is about a young boy
called Clyde who is dissatisfied with his current situation compared to his
fellow peers which is impacting upon his social status at school. This changes
when he befriends a class mate and learns more about this student’s personal
life and demeanour. Another short story from this book is titled Draclia which
revolves around two main characters which are an older and younger brother, who
are concerned with convincing and educating his younger brother Will about
vampires and their certain traits.
In the first
short story of Tickled Onions,
Gleitzman has created at the beginning of the story a third person narration in
which the main characters points of view are accounted for rather than the
story written through the eyes of solely the main character. During this short
story titled ‘Draclia’ the narration of this text takes a first person view in
favour for the main character of the story, Corey. Gleitzman cleverly does this
by writing the thoughts and actions that Corey takes in order to convince his
younger brother Will who is five, that everyone around him is not a vampire.
This book connects with current cultural trends and fads that are prevalent in
our youth by connecting for example to the Twilight series in the short story
‘Draclia.’ The author uses this as a platform to deliver morals and guidance to
the reader.
Another short
story incorporated into this novel called Tickled
Onions, puts across the moral to always be aware of other people’s
situations, and look at the positives in your own life. This was prevalent with
Clyde who was embarrassed about his parents constantly creating rather
embarrassing meals for his lunch box at school. However, he soon realises a
much more serious situation when he begins a friendship with a fellow class
mate who has lost his mum, and is ridiculed for his obesity by his peers.
The author uses
many adverbs and verbs throughout this novel to paint a picture in the readers
mind, and give the text a more interesting appeal. This makes Gleitzman’s books
a suitable choice for children as it enriches their understanding of literature.
This book would be suitable for a upper primary/middle class due to the more in
depth social concepts that the book uses as its foundation for the narratives.