WORLD BOOK DAY 2018
CELEBRATE STORIES. LOVE READING.
This book has been specially written and published to celebrate World Book Day. We are a charity who offers every child and young person the opportunity to read and love books by offering you the chance to have a book of your own. To find out more – as well as oodles of fun activities and reading recommendations to continue your reading journey, visit WORLDBOOKDAY.COM
World Book Day in the UK and Ireland is made possible by generous sponsorship from National Book Tokens, participating publishers, booksellers, authors and illustrators. The £1 (€1.50 in Ireland) book tokens are a gift from your local Bookseller.
World Book Day works in partnership with a number of charities, all of whom are working to encourage a love of reading for pleasure.
The National Literacy Trust is an independent charity that encourages children to enjoy reading. Just 10 minutes of reading every day can make a big difference to how well you do at school and to how successful you could be in life. LITERACYTRUST.ORG.UK
The Reading Agency inspires people of all ages and backgrounds to read for pleasure and empowerment. They run the Summer Reading Challenge in partnership with libraries, as well as supporting reading groups in schools and libraries all year round. Find out more and join your local library. SUMMERREADINGCHALLENGE.ORG.UK
WORLD BOOK DAY ALSO FACILITATES FUNDRAISING FOR:
Book Aid International, an international book donation and library development charity. Every year, they provide one million books to libraries and schools in communities where children would otherwise have little or no opportunity to read. BOOKAID.ORG.UK
Read for Good, who motivate children in schools to read for fun through its sponsored read, which thousands of schools run on World Book Day and throughout the year. The money raised provides new books and resident storytellers in all of the UK’s children’s hospitals. READFORGOOD.ORG
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
Version 1.0
Epub ISBN 9781787611221
First published in Great Britain in 2018 by
Andersen Press Ltd,
20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SWIV 2SA
www.andersenpress.co.uk
Text Copyright © Julian Clary, 2018
Illustration Copyright © David Roberts, 2018
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
The rights of Julian Clary and David Roberts to be identified as the author and Illustrator of this work have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data available
ISBN 978 1 78344 629 2
Parents are a funny lot, aren’t they? Full of surprises! My mother once met me from school wearing a pair of knickers on her head. She said it was World Knickers Day, but of course there’s no such thing. She was just being silly.
And my father encouraged me to read and write, but then seemed less keen when I wrote on my bedroom wall with felt-tip pen. Make your mind up!
But it is true, I suppose, that parents know things we don’t. They’re bound to because they’re so old. And it can be worth listening to them sometimes.
Occasionally parents say something interesting, if only by the law of averages. And parents know things too: what you’re having for tea, whether you’ve washed your hands or not, where your birthday presents are hidden. And what the family secrets are...
This is a story about a very surprising family secret told to Betty and Bobby Bold by their parents, the evening before their first day at school. It is a story that is hard to believe. But I assure you it is true. I mean, if I was going to make something up, it wouldn’t be as incredible as the tale I’m about to tell you, trust me!
Betty and Bobby are twins and they live with their parents in a lovely semi-detached house in Teddington. On this particular night they were ready for bed – their teeth cleaned (they both have very large, pointy teeth) and their ears brushed (they both have very hairy ears).
They were waiting for their mother to tuck them in and their father to tell them a goodnight joke – Mr Bold loves jokes and has a job writing them for Christmas crackers.
But when they came into the room, their parents were looking very serious. Which was most unusual, because Mr and Mrs Bold are the most fun parents you could ever meet – always laughing and telling jokes.
‘What’s wrong, Dad?’ asked Betty.
‘You look worried,’ said Bobby.
Mr Bold sat himself on the end of Betty’s bed and coughed a couple of times. His wife put her hand on his shoulder and gave it a little squeeze. ‘Come on, dear,’ she said. ‘We’ve got to tell them.’
‘Tell us what?’ asked Betty.
‘Tell you who you really are,’ said her mother.
The twins didn’t understand and looked at each other in confusion.
‘Have you ever noticed that you’re different from other people?’ asked Mr Bold.
‘Well, I suppose our teeth are bigger than others’,’ suggested Bobby.
‘And we’re a bit hairier than other children,’ said Betty.
‘And we can’t stop laughing,’ said Bobby, and his shoulders started to shake as the giggles erupted from inside him.
‘Precisely,’ said his mother. ‘But there’s a reason for all that, my dear. A very unusual, rather special reason.’
secretschool