“I Don’t Believe it Archie” by Andrew Norriss is a children’s book for children around seven to twelve years old. It is scheduled for release on March 13. The book is all about a boy named Archie that is surrounded by strangeness. While we might be surprised to see a piano roll down a hill, park itself against a car door so that the car’s occupants can not get out, and a wacky series of events that follow Archie is not. Odd things happen to him every day, but while his life is interesting it is rare that anyone fully believes his tales of adventure. Most of the time he does not even bother to tell anyone about what happens, because he would spend his days explaining rather than actually doing anything. During our first adventure with Archie we met Cyd, a girl that wants to tag along on Archie’s accidental adventures. The two become fast friends, and having Cyd by his side makes each adventure easier to handle and explain. Her efforts and company make the days smoother and much more fun.
Each chapter of “I Don’t Believe it Archie” is a day in Archie’s strange life, detailing the odd events that seem to follow Archie. Who but Archie could be mistaken for a kidnapped boy, who just happens to share his name, or when looking for his little sister’s stuffed lion discover a house with live big cats lurking in side?the story is fun, silly, and an easy read. There are cute pencil drawing styled illustrations by Hannah Shaw add more fun and humor to the story. Archie and Cyd seem like normal kids tossed into unusual circumstances, with Archie doing his best to follow the instructions his parents have given him about how to behave.
“I Don’t Believe it Archie” is a simple, silly chapter book. I recommend it for reluctant or struggling readers that have trouble really getting interesting in reading, since each short chapter can be read like a story of its own in a single sitting. It fell a little flat for me, but I think that is more on my own expectations rather than anything to do with the book. However, after reading this I will say that if my son disappears for a few hours longer than expected and does not do the errand he left the house to do, I will be asking a lot more questions. Thankfully, I have a few years before my children are old enough to be going anywhere without supervision.