ReadItDaddy's Book of the Week - Week ending 4th October 2013 - "The Opposite" by Tom MacRae and Elena Odriozola (Andersen Children's Books)

Mischief, contrariness and a devilishly good tale here in a book where an innocent young boy is at the mercy of "The Opposite". Nate wakes up one morning to find a mysterious figure hanging from his ceiling. "The Opposite", as you'd expect, is a naughty character who gets Nate into trouble as he does the exact opposite of what's required in each situation. Sitting down for breakfast? Pouring out the milk carefully? Not if "The Opposite" has anything to do with it. Painting a lovely picture for teacher? "The Opposite" has other ideas. Soon, Nate finds that his day is disrupted and nothing seems to get rid of this pest - and nothing but trouble follows in its wake.

But can a smart little boy like Nate figure out how to outwit "The Opposite" ?

You will have to read the book to find out, of course! "The Opposite" reminded us a little bit of Levi Pinfold's brilliant "The Django" in story and theme, but we loved "The Opposite" (though perhaps some children might find elements of it a little scary and disturbing - The Opposite does a great line in Loki-style hissing! HSSSS!)

We couldn't get enough of the phrase "Then The Opposite happened" and I can tell this is going to end up becoming something of a family meme!

We like our books dark and thought provoking, and Nate proves that in some cases doing exactly the opposite of what's expected can actually work out for the best.

A fabulous original and darkly delicious story. "We really hated this book and will never read it again" (Then The Opposite Happened!)

Charlotte's best bit: Painting time with teacher. She laughed at that bit, but I don't think her teacher would approve!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Darkly funny, brilliant and original. "The Opposite" of atrocious!