Mi rosszabb annál, ha nem válik valóra, amit kívánunk? Talán csak az, ha mégis... Barry Bennett roppant unalmasnak és túlzottan szigorúnak tartja a szüleit, azt pedig végképp nem tudja megbocsátani, hogy ezt a nevet választották neki. Azonban, amikor másik szülők után fohászkodik, még csak nem is sejti, hogy tökéletes apát és anyát találni nem olyan egyszerű, mint az elsőre tűnik.

A Roald Dahl Funny Prize-díjas illusztrátor,Jim Field és a humorista David Baddiel könyve Roald Dahl és David Walliams rajongóinak kötelező olvasmány. ( )

I received an ARC of The Parent Agency and from the synopsis it sounded like a fun read and it truly was. Barry hated his name, hated the way his parents were, they were boring, and they always too his twin sisters side on everything. He was 9 years old coming up to 10 and his parents wouldn't allow him to do things his friends were doing. After asking his parents for a James Bond party and getting the hump he goes to his room and strange things start happening. He arrives in the Parent Agency. This agency is run by kids and the kids can choose who they want to be their parents. A fantastic idea so Barry thought. But after trying out 5 sets of parents he still couldn't decide who he wanted to be his parents because although some things were good with the ones he had tested it wasn't all that brilliant for him.
I was giggling like a school girl reading this. The names of the characters, their manourisms, place names it was all funny and great fun.
Everytime I picked the book up for a five minute read I found myself still reading 45 minutes later. I was truly hooked.

This is the first book I have read from David Baddiel as an author and I will definitely be looking out for more from him. ( )

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Had no idea what to expect and it turned out to be really entertaining with a great message to boot.

Barry hates his name. It's too old-fashioned and he blames his parents. He blames them for a whole list of things. One of which is the lame birthday parties they come up with. Barry is about to turn 10. He loves two things. James Bond and Lionel Messi. They can't even plan a James Bond themed party that is mildly fun. Barry storms off in protest and the next thing he knows he's in an alternate London called Youngdon where couples compete to be chosen by kids to be their parents. He is whisked off to the Parent Agency to find himself a set of parents. The head of TPA gives him a five day package to try out five different sets of parents. First he asks for rich parents, then famous, then athletic, then pushovers, and lastly spoilers. Each set of parents have to plan a birthday party for him. None of them are quite the right fit, so you can pretty much figure out how it ends.

My only comment relates to the very present British nuances in the book. Editors replaced British words with American words as much as possible in the American edition (mum, lorry, football is changed to mom, truck, soccer), but certain things just couldn't be changed such as the daily tea and London setting. I wouldn't be surprised if Argentinian soccer player Lionel Messi also has limited fame with American middle graders.

I both read and listened to the story and I have to say that I preferred the audiobook even though it's the British version. The author read his own book and he was absolutely fantastic. ( )

http://olvasonaplo.net/olvasonaplo/2017/07/23/david-baddiel-tokeletes-szulo-kere... ( )

Barry wishes he had better parents, and dreams that there is an agency that allows you five days to pick the perfect parents. This enjoyable story is fun and imaginative. ( )