Daisy and the Trouble With Life

On the Official Daisy Club website (www.daisyclub.co.uk) Daisy tells us 'Hi I'm Daisy. I don't like peas but I love strawberry dib-dabs and crunchy creams and jumping in puddles and skidding on ice and hanging upside-down from swings with my best friend Gabby!!!'
So, even if you haven't had the pleasure of meeting the inimitable Daisy in her previous books, you can form a picture of the strong-minded, fun-loving, bright little tomboy who has become a favourite of thousands of children.
Kes Gray's first book about Daisy, Eat Your Peas, became an instant hit for the father of three who aspires to be Captain Scarlett. His deadpan humour combined with the illustrative skill of Master of the Trade, Nick Sharratt, produced a picture book that was quickly recognised as a leader in the field. Eat Your Peas quickly accrued numerous awards, including the overall prize in the Federation of Children's Book Awards, and was shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Award in 2002.
Since then, Daisy has been in all sorts of predicaments (such as the horror of being a bridesmaid in Yuk!: she doesn't do dresses and she doesn't do lovely) and trouble (such as convincing the babysitter that she usually has chips and ice-cream for tea and never has a bath before bed in Double Trouble). She may challenge her Mum (in You Do! Mum tells Daisy not to pick her nose, Daisy retorts with a story about the time Mum did on the way to Granny's - you can guess the refrain!) but she's always lovable and always fun. In 006 and a bit Daisy and best friend Gabby become spies extraordinaire. As Daisy dons a black felt-tipped pen moustache and dark glasses, readers just know that there will be pages of great secret spy action to follow.
In the latest book Daisy has grown up a bit. The writing is now in the first person and Daisy's character is developing. Kes tells us 'I've really enjoyed writing this first fiction story about Daisy (the earlier stories are picture books). Daisy is really developing into a little girl with strong opinions, I think I imagine her as a very young Vicky Pollard. She just rambles on, she's a non-stop motor-mouth who pings off in different directions - but children are just like that! It's very handy having a six-year-old daughter and her friends around. I just listen and watch a lot!
'I also have a very good memory of my own childhood - in fact, the idea behind Daisy's 'main trouble' sprang from a memory of something I did as a kid. I remember always being desperate for sweets, all the time. We used to go down to the local shops and I was always on the lookout for any dropped coins on the floor so that I could buy some sweets. One day I saw one of those big, round lollies on the ground. It was half sucked but it was my only option. I picked it up and ate it. The next day I was so ill! I remember vividly not being able to have my favourite tea - steak and kidney pudding - and not being able to play in a football match with my mates. It was awful but it provided the inspiration for Daisy's trouble.'
This gives you a clue as to why Daisy has been grounded and why she has lots of time to pontificate about all her troubles. Children will enjoy bemoaning with Daisy all the problems they share, for example, the trouble with comics - they only have a free gift on the cover, the trouble with being silly - it can give you scabs, the trouble with remote control cars - they don't do as they are told.
And, readers will be pleased to know, there are lots more of Daisy's troubles to come! Kes tells us 'I've has just sent off the next book, Daisy and the Trouble with Zoos, to the publisher - and there are two more to come.' Daisy fans will be delighted!

[images:
* Kes Gray (NB A new photo is on its way from Kes)
* cover of Trouble with Life
* inside images from Trouble with Life:
p36 Daisy on the loo
p53 mum shouting
p177 Daisy eating
* covers of other titles? Eat Your Peas/ Yuk! Double Trouble/ Bunch of Daisies/ You Do! / 006 and a bit]

Publishers would like to add a link to the Daisy website - is this possible??

Daisy and the Trouble With Life by Kes Gray
YOUR REVIEWS

Characters:
Daisy - A young girl who is quite impulsive and funny.
Daisy's Mum - A normal mum: always nagging.
Gabby - Daisy's best friend.

The story:
Daisy's grounded. She's lucky she's even allowed out of her bedroom after what she's done. But what has she done that is soooooooooo bad?

My review:
I thought Daisy and the Trouble with Life was hilarious. I liked the way it was written in first person, this made me feel that Daisy was a real girl.
Daisy and Gabby are in a secret club which causes lots of trouble such as: cleaning the car with bubble bath, digging a trap for next doors cat and cutting Gabby's hair so Gabby was half bald.
Daisy's Dad died when Daisy was little and Daisy wonders what her dad was like and if he would moan as much as her Mum. Daisy is scared of growing up because she thinks she will forget what her Dad was like, maybe this is why she's so naughty ?.
I really enjoyed Daisy and the Trouble with Life and I would love to be Daisy's friend because she seems kind and mischievous.

By Emily Board, aged 8

Emily

I liked the book but I thought that Daisy was a bit negative. She kept finding the trouble with everything, but this was mostly funny. I think that it should have said about her Dad dying at the beginning of the book because I was wondering where he was and it was a real surprise to read about it half way through. I think that it should have said how he died because suddenly my mind whizzed up with questions and I felt sad about her not having a Dad.
I liked the way Daisy was so imaginative with her 'the trouble with this' and 'the trouble with that'. My favourite 'trouble with' was the trouble with lolly sticks. Daisy said the problem with these was that people do not know how to make sticks and they should make them edible. I absolutely agree with her on that one.
Daisy's mum was always grounding her for different reasons but for some reason most of what Daisy does seems to go wrong!
The only bad thing about this story was that some things she described sounded so interesting that I wanted to hear more about them than was in the book.
Summary:
This book was about a girl called Daisy and her mother, and sadly her Dad had died. She had a best mate called Gabby and they were always mucking around. Daisy's mother has to ground her a lot, not because she's mean and horrible but because Daisy is always getting into trouble. Daisy has lots of friends and tells us about some dreadful things she has been through. One day Gabby and Daisy decided to make a mud trap for Tiptoes the next-door neighbours cat. Mum grounded her for that. One day Daisy did an absolutely awful thing, but I am not going to tell you about that because you've got to read the book to find out!!!!
by Ruby Bookbinder, aged 8

Ruby

Another exciting book in the series! Daisy's view on the world and life in general is very amusing... the whole world is against her and everything is unfair. As a teacher this sounds very familiar as many children share these views, although maybe not to the extent that Daisy does! I found it very funny especially when Daisy thought being grounded was boring, well what did she expect? Well - she wasn't expecting to have an upset stomach! Children will love this book, what child doesn't love a story with the main character running off to the loo! The book is filled with some great characters that children will love from her pet goldfish, to her friend Gabby to the school bully, there is something for everyone. This is definitely a book that will be on my class bookshelf and in the school library.
Miss Shona Sivam
Class teacher, Burlington Junior School

This is a fiction story book about a girl called Daisy. She has been grounded and has to stay inside for a day. She tells you about how she can't go out to play with her best friend Gabby. They want to dig a big ditch out of mud and sticks, because they want the next door neighbour's annoying cat, called Tiptoes, to fall in. They dug a small ditch before, but Tiptoes didn't fall in it. In the story Daisy tells you about her life and then towards the end of the story, she tells you why she has been grounded. You also meet Fred her goldfish and her other friend.
This is a suitable book for boys and girls aged 7-9 years. I think it would be good if you had just been grounded, because you would feel just like Daisy. I found the book exciting to read, because you have to wait to find out what Daisy has done wrong and why she has been grounded. I would recommend this book

Sarah Langford, aged 8