How To Be A Great Detective

Claudie's back and she's hunting down a murderer, with the help of William Shakespeare.

A comic sequel to "My Father Is Not A Comedian".

Classroom ideas

Have a class pet of silkworms in a shoebox and mulberry leaves, like Griselda: click here.
Claudie and her classmates put on a show of the legend of Pyramus and Thisbe from "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Students can write their own stories of metamorphosis in the style of Greek and Roman myths such as Ovid's Pyramus and Thisbe: click here.
Perform the play within the play, from "A Midsummer's Night's Dream" or recreate the tableaux with all the costumed characters as the children do in the book.

Each chapter of the book opens with a different quote from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" - students could attempt to track them down!: click here.
Make a Mubbleberry (Mulberry cake) - like the one Griselda eats - for when mulberries are in season. Go on a mulberry gathering expedition.

Recipe
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
125 grams butter/oil
vanilla essence
2 eggs
half cup of milk
mulberries, as many as you can gather together

Mix it all up together and cook it in a cake tin on 220 degrees until cooked through - about 40 minutes.

The book is hilarious and real, intelligent and exciting, with a cast of colourful characters. Highly recommended for children and adults who like to laugh. 5 stars. Good Reading Magazine Read more...
In a word: cheeky. Weekend Read more...
Significantly presented against the backdrop of A Midsummer Night's Dream Claudie's chatty account of the case, with its helpfully extended vocabulary, thrums with the mischievous joy of Dubosarsky's writing at its best. Gleebooks Gleaner Read more...