Ivan the Terrible

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.