This was another fabulous book from this author. It was a madcap adventure with colourful characters. I loved the relationship between Harry and his gran. It reminded me so much of my own grandmother before she passed away so gave me super nostalgia feelings. Fantastic read.

Brilliant and funny Middle Grade. I really enjoyed reading with my son and he also really enjoyed the story.

As a teacher, I love having Jo Simmons books in the classroom. They never fail to entertain the children and are brilliant as a class read aloud. Every year, I’ve tried to read one of her books aloud to my class and they always get a great reception. With ‘I Lost My Granny in the Supermarket’ I have a new personal favourite from her collection of books and I can’t wait to share it with my class in September.

After a devastating leak in their family home, Mum has to stay at home and get it sorted. Consequently, Harry has been tasked with escorting his Granny to the annual loo roll awards so that she can collect her lifetime achievement award. Mum believes that if he can successfully complete this task, Harry will have proven he is more than capable of having his own pet, and Harry wants nothing more than a dog.

Hilarity ensues as Harry loses his granny in the supermarket and he suddenly realises that this task is not going to be as easy as he fist thought…

A brilliant read full of hilarious characters and tongue-in-cheek moments, I’m particularly thinking about the names of the television detective duo!

Jo Simmons does it again and this time I think she’s done it better than ever!

I think this is a great, funny, suspense, dramatic book. I would recommend this book to my friends and my school library. I laughed a lot during this book. My favourite part was when Mini drove off in the forklift! Mouse town sounded so small and cute! I loved when Mini knocked the police man out with a pork pie!
Thank you for letting me read this book, Arabella age 8

When Harry’s mum asks him to make sure his Gran Mini gets to an awards ceremony, he greatly underestimated how much of a challenge this could possibly be.

A laugh a page, Harry and Mini pack an awful lot into their grand day out - a trip to the supermarket, swimming at the leisure centre (and taking a lifeguard shift), riding the rollercoasters at the theme park, getting a hair cut and more…

Some suspension of disbelief may be required but the whole book is such fun it’s forgiven!

With thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for the digital ARC.

My 9 year old daughter and I shared the reading of this one and we’re in agreement that this book is excellent!! Having previously read ‘I Swapped my Brother on the Internet’ I was familiar with Simmons’ writing style and knew it would be funny. I hadn’t anticipated giggling quite so much though! My daughter’s favourite part was the theft of a forklift truck and she loved Granny Mini. She’s now desperate to read the others by the same author. I will be recommending to children in my class, particularly the more reluctant readers as I think they will be hooked! Thanks so much for this arc.

How I lost my granny in the supermarket was another hilarious middle grade book by Jo Simmons!

The writing was laugh out loud funny and witty at places. The writing was readable and simple enough for the middle grade audience but it was very engaging! The plot was unique and eccentric which I definitely enjoyed!

Overall this was a brilliant read that I would recommend! Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the E-arc! All opinions are my own.

This was an extremely funny book from start to finish and my daughter (age 7) giggled all the way through it. Both my daughter and I really identified with the boy (Harry) and were desperate for him to save the day and earn his fifty puppy points!

In the story 10 year old Harry is tasked with the job of looking after his Granny Mini for the day and taking her to the just made it loo roll ceremony where she has won the lifetime achievement award. This sounds simple but you haven't met Harry's Gran!

Unfortunately she has an alternative plan for her day and loses Harry in the supermarket. All sorts of chaotic adventures follow whilst Harry tries to keep up with her!

We loved Grandma despite her crazy ways and it was great to see Harry and her joining forces by the end.

The illustrations really helped to capture the funny situations and my daughter loved them.

Overall a very entertaining and enjoyable read. We will definitely be looking out for more books by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for this eARC.

I really enjoyed this book.
It was fun, lighthearted and amusing.

The relationship between Harry and Mini develops nicely and I’d love to have a Mini in my life. She’d keep you on your toes.
Harry comes across as a very resourceful young chap and I’m so glad it has the ending it has, open for the next instalment of Mini fun.

Many thanks to the author and NetGalley for gifting me this arc in exchange for an unbiased review.

Jo Simmons is a wonderful writer especially for the 7-10 age range or those reluctant readers who need a book to give them that gentle push in the direction of a great story or new author.
I Lost My Granny in the Supermarket is a wonderful madcap adventure about Harry who has to accompany his granny to receive an accolade for her services to the industry at the Just Made It loo roll awards; however Granny Mini has other plans and manages to escape her grandson’s chaperoning and lead him through a selection of comical adventures.
The story is fast paced and the humour is brilliant. As in previous books Nathan Reed’s illustrations are fantastic bringing alive the energy and craziness of the events .
I’d certainly recommend this to lower KS 2 teachers and learners. Why should David Walliams grab the limelight ... introduce your children to the delights of Jo Simmons.
PS any book that starts and ends with goats is always going to be a winner.

Teaching is my second career – something I had always wanted to do, but didn’t train for until my younger child started at high school. Although only 10 years ago, I have now reached the age where – rather than being the same age as my charges’ parents – in theory at least, I am old enough to be their granny – something that I am trying my hardest to ignore.

Certainly these days, expectations of grandparents are not the same as they were when I was young. My mother’s parents were always referred to as The Prunes by her and her brothers because they spent a considerable amount of their retirement on sunny foreign holidays leading them to be ridiculously tanned and incredibly wrinkled. When not away baking themselves, they did very little other than gardening and reading, and were most definitely not the fun-loving, active individuals that so many of my children enjoy spending time with.

All of which leads me to this title – the latest offering from Jo Simmons and Nathan Reed – which I requested from Net Galley, looking for something light and humorous. It’s probably just me, but from the title I half-expected the granny to be a delicate and ditsy old dear, incapable of looking after herself – something that possibly might not be very politically correct – but what I found was a hilariously sassy pensioner whose lust for life would put a great many younger people to shame.

Our story opens in a house that is in utter chaos. Next door’s goats have broken in to the back garden and Harry’s granny Mini is showering in the family’s broken shower, leading to water flooding through into the kitchen. Unfortunately, when Mum calls the plumber they are unable to come out until late afternoon, throwing Mum’s plans to escort Mini to the Caught Short Awards into disarray.

With Harry’s sister unable to step in to help, Mum decides to call on Harry to take over looking after Mini for the day, promising him a heap of puppy points if he is successful, which will go towards convincing her that he is responsible enough to look after the dog he so desperately wants. Convinced that taking the elderly lady to the awards ceremony will be a doddle, Harry agrees and listens carefully as Mum lists the itinerary for the day – noting the instructions he needs to follow with regard to lunch, hair and a new outfit etc prior to the big event.

After giving Harry the invitation to look after, Mum warns him that he is not to allow Mini to eat toffees and sends them on their way. When Mini decides to take a detour to the local supermarket, things start to go wrong very quickly and before too long it is apparent that Mini’s plans for the day do not include attending the awards ceremony. Losing his granny in the supermarket is only the start of Harry’s problems and before too long he finds himself involved in increasingly bizarre activities to not only keep up with the old lady, but to try to get her to the award ceremony on time to earn his puppy points.

From the moment I read the magic words Caught Short Awards, this book had me laughing out loud both at the preposterous situations that Harry and Mini find themselves in and the inevitable toilet humour that accompanies the biggest annual loo roll award ceremony in the country. I loved the references to the snobbery of saying toilet tissue as opposed to the far more down to earth loo roll, and there is one part later in the story which had me snorting with laughter at its description of the product and which – much as I would love to include it here – I will leave the reader to discover because it needs to be read in context to fully appreciate it.

Many children, and indeed adults, will recognise themselves in Harry’s desperate attempts to show that he is responsible enough to look after a pet of his own. Here though, Harry is not called upon to complete the run of the mill tasks that children are usually asked to complete such as tidying his room or setting the table, rather he is called upon to resolve each situation in which he finds himself in increasingly inventive ways in response to Mini’s behaviour. As the source of all Harry’s problems, Mini is inspired. She is worried about being written off – not just by her family, but by society – as past it when she is anything but. Knowing some of my children’s families, this is probably a far more accurate representation of what grandparents are actually like these days than the stereotypical image of docile, grey-haired, little old ladies that I was brought up with.

Sadly, my advance read did not have all of Nathan Reed’s illustrations included but the ones that were were absolutely fabulous and will greatly enhance the enjoyment of the story’s readers. Perfect as a shared read for children in Year 3 upwards, or for less confident readers in upper KS2, this is one which will have its audience laughing out loud throughout.

Enormous thanks to Bloomsbury Children’s Books and Net Galley for my advance read ahead of publication on July 22nd. A perfect 5 out of 5 stars.