Miss Kelly And The Blasted Berry Battle

Tired But Crafty Mummy Book Club
Miss Kelly And The Blasted Berry Battle
by Ruth Thomas

“Have you ever wondered who would win in a fight between a beetle and a raspberry? No?Well…I bet you will now!When Miss Kelly’s beautiful garden is touched by magic something amazing happens…her prize-winning berries come to life! The problem is, those blasted berries are awfully bad and not to be trifled with.Speaking of trifle, Miss Kelly’s fighting her own war (with muffins, instead of missiles) to try and win over the grumpy old man next door!Will Miss Kelly succeed?Who will win the great berry battle? Step inside to find out…“

Mummy’s Review

Last year, due to extremely sad and tragic circumstances, we saw the Black Lives Matters movement take centre stage in our media. It was an opportunity for people to take a good look at themselves and examine our consciences. Many parents found themselves asking what could be done to ensure we not only raise our children to not be racist but to actually be actively anti-racist. One activity suggested was extremely easy to do. Take a look at the books your children are reading and see how diverse they are. This was a very quick and easy task and I will hold my hands up and say that our collection was not very diverse. Our bookshelves were filled with stories by white authors (often men, but not entirely so) who were writing about white characters, so much so that it was quite rare to find a supporting character who wasn’t white. These are much loved and well read stories and so they will be staying in our collection however Rory and I decided that it was important to diversify the stories we share together. We started off with Clayton Byrd Goes Underground by Rita Williams-Garcia. Keep your eyes peeled for our review.

I was absolutely delighted when we were gifted a copy of Miss Kelly and the Blasted Berry Battle by Ruth Thomas, an black author from South London, to continue our journey in diversifying our reading choices. I was even more delighted when I started reading the story. From the first page, Ruth has you giggling. We are introduced to the main character Miss Kelly by spotting her big bottom sticking out from the bushes! Miss Kelly is an wonderful character who is filled with love and kindness. She lives next door to a man who is angry and grumpy. Mr. Huffledung hasn’t left his house for twenty years. Miss Kelly decides that she is going to win him over with her kindness and her amazing baking skills! However, in Miss Kelly’s garden, a war is raging. Due to some amazing rainbow magic, the berries from the berry bushes have come to life and are causing chaos. They have scared away all the animals who live in Miss Kelly’s garden and have now begun a war between themselves. There are redcurrants in the trenches and cranberries hurling acorn missiles. Can the kind, gentle gooseberries stop the war before it is too late and the garden is completely destroyed?

Miss Kelly and the Blasted Berry Battle is a fantastic story filled with both funny and heartwarming moments. Miss Kelly is a character that is impossible not to adore. She is radiates happiness with her singing and her kind acts. As a keen baker, I loved that she used cakes and sweet treats to win round her grumpy neighbour. Children will also love the magic of the berries coming to life in the evenings and causing chaos in the garden. The story is such fun and filled with a wonderful message of how important it is to be kind, and what happens if you’re not! I would absolutely recommend this book!

Rory’s Review

Have you ever wondered what happens in your garden at night? Miss Kelly’s berries are alive! It all started on a dark afternoon when a rainbow smashed and covered the berries in ‘special’. This happened because Miss Kelly sung a really high note that could be heard from space and smashed the rainbow. That night the berries came alive and started to scare the animals when it got dark. When the gooseberries tell the berries they need a leader the berries start fighting. Will the garden stay safe or will it fall into peril and be demolished? Meanwhile Miss Kelly has made friends and helps her neighbour Mr Huffledung because he is lonely and frustrated and Miss Kelly feels sorry because she is a kind person and this is a story about kindness.
My favourite characters are the gooseberries because they are very caring and kind, even though their attempts to organise the rest of the garden don’t always work out and trouble follows! I really like it when the berries all become friends and start to share a bush together and are happy.
This is a brilliant book because the author makes you feel really involved in the story and the characters come to life. The colourful design on the front is great and I enjoyed the pictures throughout the book, as they are really big and help tell the story.
I recomend this brilliant book to all boys and girls, whether or not they enjoy gardens and berries! I would give it 10/10

We were kindly gifted this book for review purposes, but all opinions expressed are our own.

If you enjoyed this Tired But Crafty Book Club post, here are a few other books we’ve enjoyed:
– Too Many Socks
– The Jelly Spacemen: Cruise To Earth
– Why Hares Have Big Ears
– The Little Cat With Stars In His Eyes
– Meet The Jolly Jangles