I Swapped My Brother on the Internet: a funny tale about the ups and downs of brothers!

“Everyone has dreamed of being able to get rid of their brother or sister at one time or another – but for Jonny, the dream is about to become a reality with SiblingSwap.com! What could be better? Finding the perfect brother isn’t easy, though, as Jonny discovers when Sibling Swap sends him a series of increasingly bizarre replacements for his brother Ted, including:
A merboy
A brother raised by meerkats
The ghost of Henry the Eight!
Suddenly old Ted isn’t looking so bad. But can Jonny ever get him back?”

I picked up this book during the Christmas holidays and it was a proper chuckle! Funnily enough it’s dedicated to Paul (the author’s brother) and my own brother is called Paul, so we had a little giggle about me swapping him for someone! 

Imagine that! Being able to swap your brother on the internet. BLISS. I don’t know if I would swap mine though. He’s far away enough as it is!

All Jonny has to do is put in on the website the kinds of things he likes, the kind of brother he wants and VOILA, he will get a new brother. His actual brother, Ted, is a bit mean to him. Ted laughs at Jonny. Jonny has had enough. He wants a brother he can play with, a brother he can have fun with, someone who wil appreciate what a good brother he is. Ted applies to SiblingSwap.com and what unfurls is a comical list of brothers! 

All Jonny has to do when he wants a new brother is request a swap and TADA the new brother arrives the next day. At first, this is brilliant. Jonny thinks he is on to a winner, but when he realises all of his “new brothers” are a bit weird, bizarre or NOT quite Ted, he starts to have second thoughts.

This book made me laugh out loud in places and I can imagine it will go down VERY well with the kids at school, especially those who have brothers! I loved the inclusion of Henry the Eighth, that was very unexpected. I sure wouldn’t like Henry VIII as my brother!

I am very pleased to be involved in the book blog for this funny book! Go check out the other bloggers on the tour! Their posts are brilliant!

Author Information

Jo Simmons began her working life as a journalist. Her first fiction series for children, Pip Street, was inspired by her own kids’ love of funny fiction, and two Super Loud Sambooks followed. In addition to children’s fiction, she co-wrote a humorous parenting book, Can I Give Them Back Now?: The Aargh To Zzzzzz Of Parenting, published by Square Peg. Jo lives in Brighton with her husband, two boys and a scruffy formerly Romanian street dog. I Swapped My Brother on the Internet is her first book for Bloomsbury.

Twitter: Go follow her!

Illustrator Information

Nathan Reed has been a professional illustrator since graduating from Falmouth College of Arts in 2000. He has illustrated Christopher Edge’s How to Write Your Best Story Ever and the Elen Caldecott’s Marsh Road Mysteries Series. His most recent picture book is Samson the Mighty Flea by Angela McAllister. He was shortlisted for the Serco Prize for Illustration in 2014. When he’s not illustrating he can be found with his two boys and a football on Peckham Rye Common.

Twitter: Go give Nathan a follow!

Website: Check out Nathan’s amazing website too!