Friday 13 May 2016

The Great Chocoplot by Chris Callaghan. Review by Tamsin Cooke

When I read the blurb for The Great Chocoplot by Chris Callaghan – I thought what a great idea for a children’s book. I raced out to buy it, read it in one sitting, and YES – the story more than lives up to its blurb.


Jelly and her family live in Chompton-on-de-Lyte, where everyone loves a Chocablocka bar or two. So when the end of chocolate is announced, she can't believe it. Determined to investigate, Jelly and her gran follow a trail of clues to a posh chocolate shop and its owner, the pompous Garibaldi Chocolati. Gari's suspiciously smug, despite his failing business and yucky chocolate. Is it really the chocopocalypse, or is there a chocoplot afoot?

Jelly is a fabulous heroine – she’s smart, feisty and intrepid. And each member of her family is quirky and funny with their own role to play. Their witty dialogue made me laugh out loud.

This fun adventure is well paced and very clever. Chris manages to weave in science and history making the story sound so plausible, I actually might start stockpiling chocolate myself.

Jam-packed with jokes, it is aimed at 8+ , but I think it is just as entertaining for adults as it is children. In particular, I adore the witty news bulletins on the 'Chocopocal App', spread throughout the story. Plus there are great black and white illustrations by Lalalimola that really add to the humour and bring the book even more to life.

This is a truly fantastic read. And in my mind, any book that includes the word 'chocolpocalypse' deserves to be read!


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2 comments:

Chris Callaghan said...

Thank you for a lovely review Tamsin. I love Lalalimola's illustrations too - they completely brought the characters I had in my head to life :)

Penny Dolan said...

A good choice, Tamsin!

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