Flour Babies
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Flour Babies is a 1992 book by Anne Fine, aimed at older children, which won the Carnegie Medal.[1]
[edit] Synopsis
The story centres around Simon Martin, a pupil in class 4C at an unnamed school. 4C is the class reserved for the schools under-achievers. As it so happens, a new student has arrived at the school, and, by sheer coincidence, his name is Martin Simon. The two boys are the complete antithesis of each other- Martin Simon passed all his science exams and speaks French. The class teacher, Mr. Cartwright, sends the boy packing, and Simon soon arrives. The class are choosing their options for their contribution to the school Science Fair. They wish they could work on one of the more exciting experiments- The Exploding Custard Tins, Soap Factory, or Maggot Farm, for example- but these have been reserved for those who passed their science exams. As a result, they have ended up having to choose between a series of unexciting experiments. They end up doing "child development".
The experiment which Dr. Feltham, who organises the fair, has chosen for the topic is Flour Babies. Each boy is given a six-pound bag of flour, and he must care for it all times, as if it were a baby. They must also write a diary explaining how they cope with this responsibility. Needless to say, the boys don't want to do this experiment, but Simon misunderstands a conversation he overhears between Dr. Feltham and Mr. Cartwright, and thinks that they'll get to kick the flour babies to bits at the end of the experiment. Simon becomes fond of his flour baby, while the others complain. Simon reflects on his own childhood- his Dad left home when Simon was just six weeks old, and never came back. His Mom frequently gets ratty, and, lumbered with a flour baby 24/7, Simon begins to understand why.
