Elemental Heroes: Copper Calamities product reviews

As in the first book in this series (Hydrogen Showdown), twins Sophie and Joey are faced with a challenge. Their mission is to rescue a young iron who has been kidnapped by the coppers. It is just as well that there are illustrations as these coppers resemble nothing more than tangled bits of barbed wire. They can detach pieces of themselves and hook them back together as needed - useful for going through narrow spaces! When their component wires get too messy, they can simply jump into a "melting pot" for softening prior to restoration. This process is similar to soaking in a spa pool for humans, although humans do not actually go through a metamorphosis! In effect, many of the book's characters are into shapeshifting: apart from the coppers and the explosive hydrogens, Queen Gold enjoys nothing better than to constantly change her appearance.

The coppers are consummate hoarders who are dedicated to increase their coin collection. To this end, they aim to ransom the young iron, and then to steal the copper Statue of Liberty and demand a ransom for that too. Of course, they have no idea how illogical that might be due to the difficulty in transporting it. They are too busy making bad jokes and getting the better of one another, rather like young children who are constantly squabbling. They also refer back to former days by repeating the catch phrase "all for one and one for all", variations of which occur in Greek and Roman literature and have filtered down through English (Chaucer and Shakespeare) and French (Dumas) writings, and even to present-day US political movements. However, it is unclear whether or not the coppers actually know what they are shouting about!

Miss Seven found this book much easier to read than the first in the series. It is testament to how much her reading skills have improved this year. Her parents enjoy the way she now brings books to share a funny phrase or a quirky illustration. Over the two days that it took her to read this book, she was constantly stopping to point out something else she had found interesting. Some of these share sessions happened when she was supposed to be asleep, so that is a measure of how much she was enjoying the story.

The book length is about right for Miss Seven's reading level. The plot is concise enough to maintain interest, and the large print is ideal for beginning readers. A highlight was the fun facts session in the back of the book. She asked her mother to print her out a copy of the periodic table so she could find all the elements that were mentioned. Mr Six is now inspired to explore the story for himself - although he is not quite able to read it yet, so his father has undertaken to read it to him, two or three chapters each night. But it will not be long before he too can read it without assistance. Both children are looking forward with anticipation to the third book in the series.