Pants on Fire – Scott Walker

Humour for younger readers from a first-time children’s author. They looked like ordinary, innocent pants, but those pants had just hypnotised the headteacher!Tony Trebelli has a little trouble telling the truth. He tells the most enormous lies in the world and nobody ever believes him. That is, until the day he gets his new pants. When he tells his first fib, they get a little warm. When he tells his second, there's a definite smell of burning. By the time he's on his third, there's smoke… but Tony doesn't care. Because each time this happens, Tony's lies get believed! His pants have the power to hypnotise his teachers – even Mrs McMahon, the headteacher herself. However, when Tony's pants suddenly get too hot to bear, he finds himself naked in the playground. Suddenly his lies become less appealing and Tony learns his lesson.Taking the theme of the playground chant, 'Liar, liar pants on fire,' Victoria Lloyd has written an hilarious story for younger readers. With plenty of alliteration, repetition and humour this is a terrific text for children able to read on their own but who don't want a longer novel.