Noses Are Red

Sylvia Pantaleo is an associate professor of education, specializing in
children’s literature, at the University of Victoria. She is the
coauthor of Learning with Literature in the Canadian Elementary
Classroom.

In Scrimger’s third book about Alan Dingwall and Norbert, the alien
from Jupiter, the setting is the woods two hours from Peterborough,
Ontario. Alan and his best friend, Victor, set off on a weekend camping
trip with Christopher Leech, a muscular outdoor enthusiast who is the
new boyfriend of Alan’s mother. Alan dislikes both camping and
Christopher.

When Alan and Victor become separated from Christopher, Norbert appears
and inhabits Alan’s nose. While lost in the wilderness, the boys
encounter angry bees, hungry bears, an eccentric artist, and Zinta, a
tenacious female outdoor devotee from nearby Camp Omega, who takes them
back to the camp. There the boys become embroiled in the camp’s Games
Day competition, an event that pits Zinta’s team against the team of
her archrival, Trixie. Although Alan’s athletic abilities are
comparable to his camping and survival skills, his poker playing talents
assist Zinta’s team. Christopher is also at the camp, and Alan’s
antagonism toward the man intensifies, and with good reason.

Alan refers to past adventures with Norbert but readers do not need to
be familiar with the previous books—The Nose from Jupiter (1998), A
Nose for Adventure (2000)—to enjoy the story. Although Norbert’s
comments often create awkward and humorous situations for Alan, the
alien’s presence is not crucial to the development of the plot. Alan
capably gets himself into complicated and comical situations. Rather,
Norbert’s role seems to be to stimulate reader interest in a future
novel. Further, I question the believability of an adult abandoning two
children in the wilderness. Overall, however, Scrimger’s funny
dialogue and events create an entertaining story. Recommended.