Scratcher is a funny book

Who says?  Well, readers do.  Here are a few letters I've received from younger readers:

Matt, South Frankston, aged 12

This is just a quick note to say thank you for the book “SCRATCHER”, I thoroughly enjoyed it and it was very funny.  I would like to know where you got the name Macneill?  Any way I don’t really like fiction books at all, but this one was great!  I would highly recommend this book to anyone.  I’D EASILY GIVE IT A BIG 10 out of 10!

No, I didn't pay him to write that!

Sahaj, Bangalore, India, aged 10

I found Scratcher a very funny, unique and exciting book.  I found the incident when Petchie, the pup, ran loose in Niamong really funny. 

Who cares if a boy is a little precocious!

Bree, Overport, aged 11

I am writing to you to tell you how much I liked Scratcher.  I like the bit when the pig got out of the train and the people all went running out after the pigs.  I also like the bit where they go away with Miss Hendley to the hall to do a dance with the grade.  I like Scratcher because it has funny things in it.

 Librarians like it...

Here's part of a review by the Victorian Education Department:

Scratcher is a young Australian lad who, in the process of living everyday life, seems to become involved in numerous scrapes and comical situations.  Often these result in his feeling corporeally the wrath of the Principal, or his father’s hand on certain parts of his anatomy.  Some of the hilariously funny incidents include: being saved by firemen from the top of a silo whilst he is in the process of rescuing a friend; having a large eel attach itself to his nose whilst out with his father fishing; adopting a dog, who, when it sights a cat, reacts in the normal manner and creates havoc in a butcher’s shop; ferreting; a folk dancing competition; a passionate love for his teacher; and watching a train load of pigs escape.

And another from the Queensland Education Department: 

Scratcher is a upper primary schoolboy in the outback Victorian town of Niamong, and is in the centre of any mischief that is going.  Uproarious episodes convey the flavour of a country boyhood in which fun was simple but plentiful.  Exaggeration is the essence of the author’s style and the slapstick humour is bound to appeal to the young, while initiating them into such mysteries as rabbiting, knuckles and eisteddfods (referred to throughout by the graceless hero as the ‘Iced Edward’!).  Spiky line drawings and a map enhance an unassuming production which should give much pleasure.  Many teachers would enjoy reading this yarn aloud for both its humour and its nostalgia.

I'm thinking of buying another copy myself!  So many people can't be wrong!

Order a copy

Summing up?  Scratcher is a book that reflects a simple boy's life in the bush, full of interesting and sometimes whacky people, and the centre of events that most of us would pay good money to watch.  Hundreds of others have enjoyed the stories - why not you!

Would you like your own copy? Click on  http://www.palmerhiggsbooks.com.au.

ISBN 0 85561 101 4.

Nearly 5,000 copies in homes and schools around the world...

I'd love to hear your thoughts about this "funny book" book: Contact me. 

By the way, if you're looking for a similar book, but for girls, click on Some funny things happen to a country girl...