Ivan the Terrible

by
Anne Fine
Illustrator: Philippe Dupasquier

When Russian Ivan arrives at Boris's school, unable to speak a word of English, Boris is assigned as his translator. Boris can speak both Russian and English – but the problem is that while he is a mild-mannered, peace-loving child, Ivan is quite the opposite.

So when Ivan tells the whole school (in Russian) that he is planning to make them into his slaves, Boris feels compelled to translate instead that he hopes to make lots of new friends.

Things only get worse when they visit the infants' class, and Ivan discovers with glee just how bloodthirsty British nursery rhymes really are.

This is an extremely entertaining read, told with Anne Fine's usual concise wit; revealing, in the end, a thought-provoking message.

Publisher: Egmont

Anne Fine

Children's Laureate 2001-2003
Born in the Midlands, Anne Fine studied politics and history before publishing her first children's book The Summer House Loon, in 1978. Since then, she has written books for both children and adults, including the award-winning Flour Babies, Bill's New Frock and The Tulip Touch. Her book Goggle-Eyes won the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize (1990) and was adapted for BBC Television; and Madame Doubtfire was filmed by Twentieth Century Fox as 'Mrs Doubtfire', starring Robin Williams.

As the second Children's Laureate (2001-2003) Anne campaigned to raise the profile of public libraries, as well as launching the My Home Library Scheme, encouraging children to build their own libraries at home.

Find out more about Anne Fine at her website or at the Contemporary Writers website.

http://www.annefine.com