book cover

Be Nice to Aunt Emma

by Anne Fine, illustrated by Gareth Conway

Interest age: 8 to 11
Reading age: 8+

Published by Barrington Stoke, 2021

  • Chapter books
  • Funny
  • Dyslexia

About this book

Aunt Emma is rude, prickly and seems to find fault with everything Tansy does. Thankfully, she only visits twice a year, once on the way to her annual holiday in Scotland, and then again on her way home, ten days later.

As the peacekeeper of the family, Dad encourages Tansy to be nice, and promises to buy her a new computer game if she remains on her best behaviour. Tansy turns on the charm and is delighted when she realises that her extra-polite attitude is the perfect way to really annoy Aunt Emma.

This charming, light-hearted tale explores the complex dynamics which exist in many families, demonstrating that with patience, understanding and humour, difficult situations can be overcome.

The short chapters are accompanied by amusing black-and-white illustrations, which help children to understand the emotions of the characters.

As with all Barrington Stoke titles, this dyslexia-friendly book features a special font with clear letter shapes, a well-spaced layout to minimise blurring, and thick pages to ensure words and pictures don’t show through and confuse the eye. This particular story has been edited to a reading age of eight. 

About the author

Anne Fine studied politics and history. She has been writing for both adults and children since 1978, winning numerous prizes including the Guardian Award and both the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread (now Costa) Award twice over. Her work is translated into over forty languages. 

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.

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