Review – Time Travelling with a Hamster – Ross Welford

Dear Ross,

I chose your Time Travelling with a Hamster for a group of year 7 children recently. I had previously read it with a group of years 4,5 and 6s and they enjoyed it so I wanted to pass it on to the older group. The loved it… the boys in particular. And anything that gets boys reading gets a huge thumbs up from me!

We had a long discussion about the characters and how well-drawn the characters were. One boy did not like the step-dad at all! But they all love Grandpa Byron. They also would have loved to have driven a scooter  like Al! They were all uncomfortable with the kitten scene but understood why it was in the book. Here are some of the letters they wrote – they are not very long… year 7s  don’t want to do much writing after a long day at school.

Thank you for reading their letters! Helena

Dear Mr Welford,

Thank you for writing the book. I think it is really good and thoroughly enjoyed it. Keep up the good work! I especially liked the part when Al’s mum jokes and tells him that his Dad is dead and got killed by a gang at the end.

K

I found the book Time Travelling with a Hamster thoroughly enjoyable. My favourite character was Grandpa Byron as he was very wise. My favourite scene was when Al stole the moped. I didn’t like it when Al was bullied though.

Z

I have read your book and I loved it! It was perfect in every way. How did you get the amazing idea of time-travel and dying fathers? It was awfully interesting.

Thank you for taking the time to write it.

J.H. (a book club somewhere in Southgate)

Thank you for writing Time Travelling with a Hamster. I enjoyed it a lot. It was a fun and interesting read. Keep writing!

J.W.

P.S. I am really jealous of Al – I wish I had the adventures he had.

I was really impressed with how you crafted your characters in Time Travelling with a Hamster. My favourite character was Grandpa Byron and his little head shake. I enjoyed learning about some of the foods and history of Bangladesh. You don’t find many books where the main character is Asian and that is what is unique about this book.

L