AniMalcolm by David Baddiel: Our review of this laugh out loud funny book out now in paperback!

The hilariously funny children's book, AniMalcolm, by the equally hilarious David Baddiel is out now in paperback. Aimed at children aged 8-11, eleven year old D was sent a copy to read and review.

Here's our Q&A style review with D aged 11:

Can you give me an overview of this book? What is AniMalcolm all about?
A boy called Malcolm hates animals, so when he gets a chinchilla for his birthday, he is not very happy about it.

He goes on a school trip to the farm and is told that a wise goat makes your wishes come true. Malcolm asks to like animals and the goat gave him what he wanted. But not in the way Malcolm pictured it...

Tell me a bit about the main characters?
Malcolm has a little brother called Bert, an older sister called Libby, his mum, Jackie, and a dad called Stuart.

Who is your favourite character?
I really like Zsa Zsa the farm cat because I think that David Baddiel really described the way cats act very well. And Zsa Zsa is a lazy show-off, which really is what a cat is like. I also really like Ludwig the pig because he is really funny and 'wise'.

Bert is also really funny because he wants to eat everything which is, to be honest, just like me.

What is the best thing that happens in the story?
I really like the re-enactment of the 'monkey moment'. When Malcolm was little, he was blasted at with monkey poo at the zoo. So when this is about to happen again with Bert, he does his best to protect him.

Which of the animals did you like best?
Like I said before, Zsa Zsa is a typical cat. But the goats are silly because they pretend the magical goat, K-pax, doesn't talk even though k-pax was talking at the time.

If you could be any animal which would you be?
I think that being a horse would be quite cool because they are strong, majestic, and fast.

But being a wolf would be amazing because they are fast, vicious, and overall epic creatures so I would definitely go for the wolf.

Did you find it funny?
Yes - all the way through it was hilarious! I could not put it down. I stayed up until nearly 11:00 p.m one night until I read the ending. (Mum: hhmmmn!!! - I had no idea he had stayed up so late reading!!!)

What age do you think this book is most suitable for (the publishers suggest aged 8-11, do you agree)?
I would recommend 8-13. It really would appeal to both boys and girls as it is just so funny.

Would you recommend this book to others?
Definitely! It was such an amazing book and I would definitely recommend it to animal lovers and even non-animal lovers.

The moral of this story is to be careful what you wish for and to be kind to everything as they have feelings too.

Thanks for such a great review, D, so pleased you enjoyed the book. 

In case you're still not convinced just what a fab book this is... here's the trailer to find out more! 

And you can buy your own copy of AniMalcolm here: (affliliate link*)



Disclosure: We were sent a copy of Animalcolm for the purpose of review. A small fee will also be paid for our time. This post contains an Affiliate link* to Amazon which means that at no cost to you, I may receive a small payment if you buy something from a site I link to. I only recommend and link to products, services and companies that I am happy to promote.