book cover

Ivan the Terrible

by Anne Fine, illustrated by Philippe Dupasquier

Interest age: 6+
Reading age: 6+

Published by Farshore, 2008

  • Funny

About this book

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.

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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