As If!
Dave Currall

Crawford House, 1998
Pants on Fire

120pp. pbk., $9.95
1863331719

 As If! is a book of short stories. There are five stories They are;

The Fancy, Jason Gumshoe,The Money Tree, The Old Pine Box, and The Mystery of the Exploding Chickens.

Personally my favourite story is Jason Gumshoe. It is about a boy who wants to be a detective. When he goes to school he finds out about a gang. They were called The Bicycle Seat Gang. Jason sees a gang member 'steal' a seat from someone's bike and he reports this to the principal (the Commish). He later finds out that he boy 'stealing' the seat was taking it from his own bike.

The Commish calls the police and tells them that there is a boy making wild accusations and that he wanted the police to come and take Jason away. P.I. Gumshoe wouldn't stand for that. He ran until he couldn't run anymore. The police were one step ahead though and caught Jason and took him home.

That was the last that Jason saw of the Bicycle Seat Gang or the Commish as he was transferred to another school.

That is just one story and trust me they are all good stories to read. They are good because they don't take too long, they're humorous and witty. I like the idea of having a money tree. If you want to find out more just read As If! by Dave Currall

This book has 114 pages, with good size letters making it easy to read, it has no illustrations just a thumbnail picture at the start of each of the stories. There is some information about the author on the back page. It is suitable for Year 4 to Year 7 students.

Review by Shane, age 11,  Maddington WA
As If is a book of short stories written by Dave Currall.  I can't choose the best bit because it is all good.  There are lots of characters and most of them were in trouble.  They did not seem real because their adventures are too far out!

Parents can read this book to their kids from six and over.  People can read alone when comfortable age about 9. I think this book is a good read.

Adam, Yr 5, ACT