For some young readers, picking up a book holds little appeal when the alternatives are television, computers and other electronic gadgets and games. With these reluctant readers in mind, Scholastic has published the first four books in the Freak Street series.
With bright, cartoon-like illustrations in a style similar to The Simpsons, the stories are fun and easy to read but presented in a novel format. The first four books in the series introduce four families living on Freak Street. In another echo of The Simpsons, each Freak Street family has five members – parents, son, daughter and baby – as well as a family pet.
Freak Street: Meet the Aliensons (Scholastic, 2008)
An average everyday family, as long as you can overlook their appearance. With purple skin and one eye, this family comes from Valvax-7, a planet far, far away. In this book the family must deal with their out of control robot housekeeper – the Butloid 8000.
Freak Street: Meet the Wizardsons (Scholastic, 2008)
Mr and Mrs Wizardson are preparing to host a street party at the local park. Last year their pet dragon Willow didn’t have enough fire power to cook the barbecue, so this year they invest in a new dragon, Krakatoa. When Wendy’s school play script and the family magic cauldron go missing, Wendy and her magically inept brother Wyman must solve the mystery.
Freak Street: Meet the Zombiesons (Scholastic, 2008)
The Zombiesons, with their exposed brains, three-headed dog and man-eating hedge surrounding their home, fit right in with the off-beat Freak Street crowd. In their introductory novel the family must find Granny Zombieson’s missing brain and deal with the disappointment of Zigi Zombieson being kicked off the soccer team because his foot flew off during a game.
Freak Street: Meet the Humansons (Scholastic, 2008)
The Humansons are just as offbeat as all the other families on Freak Street. They are “a bit more stupid than your average, everyday family” and their behaviour is more than a little bit unpredictable. They wash their car with a hose from the inside, train their pet slug to belly dance and eat their banana custard with chopsticks. When the time comes to find a new family pet they head to the local zoo to find something inappropriate.
A Quick, Fun Read for Reluctant Readers
With a similar appeal to Dav Pilkey’s Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot and Captain Underpants series, Freak Street offers fun and a few laughs without heavy themes or complex plots that discourage more reluctant readers.
Each book begins with a tongue-in-cheek warning about what readers might be exposed to including scenes such as a close up of a belly-dancing slug, a three-headed dog playing soccer and a giant dragon incinerating a small sausage. At the conclusion of each book a moral of the story is given offbeat advice such as “only turn people into frogs if you really have to” and “never buy a pet from a zoo”.
The Freak Street website offers sneak peaks at the books in the series, word finds, downloadable wallpaper images and other fun for kids related to the books.
While more advanced or competent readers will quickly tire of the basic storylines and characters, Freak Street books are ideal for encouraging younger readers to approach books with more enthusiasm.
Meet the Humansons (ISBN: 978-1-74169-064-4)
Meet the Aliensons (ISBN: 978-1-74169-063-7)
Meet the Wizardsons (ISBN: 978-1-74169-065-1)
Meet the Zombiesons (ISBN: 978-1-74169-066-8)
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