The Quigleys in a Spin

April 1, 2006
Gr 2-4 -Each member of the Quigley family is highlighted in one of four short chapters, with a fifth story about a neighbor's cat. -Dad's Big Toe - chronicles a nail polish fiasco; -Lucy's Big Day - shows how even the worst birthday party can be memorable. In -Will's Big Effort, - Mum invites a sick friend's unpleasant son to spend the weekend. Finally, the family goes to a fair where the fast and wild rides are no fun for her. Young readers may have trouble getting past the heavy British vocabulary; not many kids opt to play -pass the parcel, - make moustaches from a goat-skin purse, have ever eaten a chessboard sandwich, or would vote for rock-pooling. The chapter on Lucy's birthday party is totally unbelievable and goes on for too long. A marginal purchase.-" -Cheryl Ashton, Amherst Public Library, OH"

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2006
Gr. 3-5. Sometimes compared with Beverly Cleary's Quimby family novels, the episodic adventures of the Quigleys continue in the fourth book of this British series. From the lead-off tale in which Lucy paints her sleeping father's toenails "purple and sparkly" to the last story, in which the neighbors' cat outsmarts the Quigleys, the book offers a wry, comical look at the human condition. Stephens' lively line drawings amplify the fun. A treat for independent readers new to full-length chapter books, this amusing book is also a fine choice for reading aloud.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)

Starred review from March 1, 2006
Just when you thought the Quigleys couldn't get any better, along comes In a Spin. This fourth book in the series about the "ordinary" family of Dad, Mum, Will, and Lucy contains, as usual, one story for each of the Quigleys (plus, this time, an extra noodlehead tale about the rescue of the family cat from the roof). The story of Lucy's disastrous birthday party is a hoot, as is Dad's embarrassing purple-toenail-polish incident and Will's heroic struggle to be nice to an extremely rude boy the Quigleys take along on holiday. Funniest of all is "Mum's Big Ride," in which the family goes to a carnival and self-avowed big-ride-lover Mum discovers that she no longer likes the "tummy feeling" brought on by The Churner and company. (In a denouement only Mason could pull off, an eight-foot-tall stuffed squirrel unintentionally won by Dad saves the day.) Mason continues to convey modern family dynamics with an enviably light touch ("'No bickering,' Dad said. 'I'm too tired.' 'We're not asking you to bicker,' Will said. 'Lucy and I can manage on our own'"), and the humor throughout is of the belly-laugh variety. Readers won't need any giant squirrels; these new Quigley stories are prize enough.

(Copyright 2006 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2006
This fourth book about the "ordinary" family of Dad, Mum, Will, and Lucy contains, as usual, one story for each (plus, this time, an extra noodlehead tale about the rescue of the family cat). Mason continues to convey modern family dynamics with an enviably light touch, and the humor throughout is of the belly-laugh variety.

(Copyright 2006 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)