Review
This is an inspiring story, especially for anyone who wishes they were better at something they enjoy doing. (Primary Times )
Product Description
Riccardo Small lives on the Island. He's the smallest boy in his class at school, and he loves cricket. In fact, he's a walking cricket encyclopaedia and can tell you the averages of every West Indian test match player in history, the names of all the cricket grounds in the world and more besides. But Riccardo also loves poetry and songs - especially calypso. When he is dropped from the cricket team after missing a vital catch, Riccardo wanders the island, taking refuge in his poems. He meets Count Crayfish, an eccentric figure, well known on the Island for his triumphs in the Calypso Competition, and together they think of a way in which Riccardo can still help the cricket team...
About the Author
Bob Cattell has been a cricket fan all his life and a supporter of the England team through thick and thin. He also supports Yorkshire, especially for their fast bowlers from Fred Trueman to Tim Bresnan. He is the author of the bestselling Glory Gardens series about cricket, highly recommended by TestMatch Special, and the Strikers series about football, written with David Ross. He also wrote the Butter-Finger cricket books for Frances Lincoln, with John Agard: Butter-Finger, Shine on, Butter-Finger and Big City Butter Finger ("hugely entertaining" - Carousel). Bob describes his own criciketing abilities as 'a left-arm sprin bowler who surprises batters with the lack of spin'. He lives in Suffolk.
John Agard is one of the most popular poets writing in Britain today. He is the author of many children's books and his collection of poetry for young children, We Animals Would Like A Word With You was shortlisted for the Smarties Prize. He was born in British Guiana (now Guyana) and worked for the Guyana Sunday Chronicle newspaper as sub-editor and feature writer before moving to England in 1977, where he became a touring lecturer for the Commonwealth Institute, travelling to schools throughout the UK to promote a better understanding of Caribbean culture. In 1993 he was appointed Writer in Residence at the South Bank Centre, London, and became Poet in Residence at the BBC in London, an appointment created as part of a scheme run by the Poetry Society in London. He also played a key role in the 'Windrush' season of programmes in 1998. He is a mainstay of the Poetry Live road show bringing poetry to about 75,000 teenagers every year, and has travelled extensively throughout the world performing his poetry. He has contributed to, and edited, several anthologies, and is also co-editor of A Caribbean Dozen (1994) with his partner, the poet Grace Nichols, with whom he also co-wrote No Hickory, No Dickory, No Dock in 1991. His books for Frances Lincoln include The Young Inferno, a retelling of Dante's Inferno.
John Agard is one of the most popular poets writing in Britain today. He is the author of many children's books and his collection of poetry for young children, We Animals Would Like A Word With You was shortlisted for the Smarties Prize. He was born in British Guiana (now Guyana) and worked for the Guyana Sunday Chronicle newspaper as sub-editor and feature writer before moving to England in 1977, where he became a touring lecturer for the Commonwealth Institute, travelling to schools throughout the UK to promote a better understanding of Caribbean culture. In 1993 he was appointed Writer in Residence at the South Bank Centre, London, and became Poet in Residence at the BBC in London, an appointment created as part of a scheme run by the Poetry Society in London. He also played a key role in the 'Windrush' season of programmes in 1998. He is a mainstay of the Poetry Live road show bringing poetry to about 75,000 teenagers every year, and has travelled extensively throughout the world performing his poetry. He has contributed to, and edited, several anthologies, and is also co-editor of A Caribbean Dozen (1994) with his partner, the poet Grace Nichols, with whom he also co-wrote No Hickory, No Dickory, No Dock in 1991. His books for Frances Lincoln include The Young Inferno, a retelling of Dante's Inferno.
