Leggs United: the Phantom Footballer & Fair Play or Foul?

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Summary: Brothers, sisters, girlfriends, bottles, diapers... poopee!
Review: A little bit of sunshine didn't hurt anyone. I have come back to the bright days of primary school, with all those important affairs, and that indescribable feeling of being able to live forever just as I was. I preferred to read Jules Verne, "Three Musketeers", "Winnetou" or Moomins, but then I never shied away from so-called girls' books. Now I can boast myself that I read all books of the "Anne of Green Gables" series when I was small. Now, having fallen in love with Helen Dunmore's prose (I have recently read a good old fashioned novel, "A Spell of Winter", by this author), I decided to look what else she might have written. I didn't hesitate much to buy "Brother Brother, Sister Sister", since I had a hunch that it was going to be a light, bright and shiny humorous book that would take about 20 years' burden off my back. And so it did!

"(...)And I didn't really want to go out in the playground anyway, because I'm still not talking to Rachel and it's so boring, not talking to people when you have to keep remembering about it, and everybody else keeps remembering about it and giving you little looks when you go near the other person you're not talking to.

(...) Then I saw a flicker of Rachel's red skirt. She'd just come in with Clare to get something out of her drawer. She was not looking at me in the careful way you have to not look at people if you want it to look as if you're not looking at them."

Wouldn't you be? Hey, if you have a daughter, she'll familiarize with Tanya, the heroine - in an instant. That book is all about daughters. What do we have here? Tanya is writing her diary, ever so seriously, and it just happened that her dad lost his job, and her mom gave birth to quads. And so the story begins. Very funny events, lots of lovable mess, and of course playground friendship tangles to untangle. Lovely book, I tell you.

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Summary: SoSo story for teens/preteens struggling with family changes
Review: I bought this book for an 8-year-old child whose parents recently had quadruplets, but decided not to give it to her, partly because I think it is intended for the 12-and up age group. I thought that the combination of disasters that hit this family overshadowed the theme of the quadruplets (for example, the father loses his job and they are pushed to poverty, which gives a whole new dimension to the issue of multiples). It just didn't ring true. And if they were as hard up as the book sounds, the solutions that appeared for the father could never have pulled them out.

I would find this book more appropriate and helpful for a child dealing with a loss of family income and status than a child dealing with a change in family size. I guess what I am trying to say is that this book took on too much. And if you gave it to a new big sister or big brother, it might bring up fears they didn't have before they read the book.

Also, the protagonist was not terribly likeable or sympathetic; instead of seeing the struggle a parent made to be there for her, she balked at the embarrassment of the multiple babies. I just didn't buy the general negative attitude of the girl toward her siblings (although of course by the end she has "grown" and come to terms with it) or the negative attitude of others in the community. In my experience, communities are very positive, supportive, and excited at least when a multiple birth first happens. That said, there is a very sweet situation where a neighbor helps out without being obvious about her charity.

If you had a child who was already feeling sorry for herself and neglected due to a multiple sibling situation, this could help, because the child would not feel alone with these feelings. But if you had a child who was basically feeling positive about the situation but needed some support, I think it would be better to get some sitters and take the child out one on one than provide them with this book.

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Summary: Brother Brother Sister Sister
Review: If you love to read here is a book for you.This story is about a girl about 11 years old whos mom just had four babies and she dose not seem to have any more time for her. When she gets the lead role in a school play her parents cant come. So in the middle of the play her dad comes and waits out side the window and embarrises her she loses her lines. I think this is a great book to learn how to apprechate your parents.