Who Wrote It?
A. F. Harrold is a poet and an author. He writes and performs poems for adults and children, in all sorts of places including schools, and at festivals. He is the owner of many books, a handful of hats, a few good ideas and one very large bushy red beard! His favourite book is The Hobbit, because it hooked his imagination and tangled him up in its world. He also has a soft spot for the villainous Mr Twit, mainly because of his beard! He became a writer because writing poems as a teenager was the only thing that felt right. Every now and then one of his poems isn’t so terrible, and now even stories seem to happen as well.
What's It About?
Greta Zargo is an unusual 11-year-old. An orphan, she’s lived on her own since the age of 8, thanks to an unfortunate but legally-binding error on her parents’ otherwise carefully thought-out will. A junior reporter on the local paper, Greta is determined her summer scoop will be solving the mystery surrounding a series of cake thefts. Meanwhile, in outer space, a huge space-going robot is heading towards Earth to take over our planet. The two stories zing along in parallel before coming together beautifully at the book’s climax, and thanks to another typo on a key document.
Fact File
Fact 1: We could not find out what A. F. stands for. Can you?
Fact 2: A. F. is the author of other children’s books, with crazy titles including Fizzlebert Stump: the boy who ran away from the circus (and joined the library).
Fact 3: His book called Imaginary was on the 9-11 age category Leeds Book Awards 2015 shortlist, and everybody loved meeting the zany Mr. Harrold at the ceremony.
Find out more on his website: www.afharroldkids.com and read about Greta Zargo on this page: www.afharroldkids.com/greta-zargo-1
Find out about the illustrator, Joe Todd–Stanton: nobrow.net/creator/joe-todd-stanton
Your Reviews
Alfie from Whinmoor st Pauls C of E Primary School:
I do like this book in some bits but there are some tricky words.It makes me quite hungry because there is cake in it and I LOVE cake! For some reason I find Greta quite funny.This book makes me laugh and I do enjoy it apart from some of the words that are really tricky and I've never heard of. I must say thank you for making this book and I did quite enjoy it.
Alfie gave Greta Zargo and the Death Robots from Outer Space 4 out of 5 and now plans to read Me and Mister P by Maria Farrer.
Maisy from Southroyd primary and early years:
Sadly, I found this book extremely confusing however I did like the cake mystery a small amount. I thought it was hard to understand because a lot of things were happening at the same time and it was also quite boring. Now all I have to do is vote.
Eleanor from Barwick-In-Elmet Primary School:
I really liked this book because the robots are really funny. They take over the world. My favourite part was where we got told where the robots live .Also,I really liked the cake because it looked yummy and I wanted to be in the book!
Eleanor gave Greta Zargo and the Death Robots from Outer Space 5 out of 5 and now plans to read The Incredible Dadventure by Dave Lowe.
ishbel from barwick-in-elmet primary:
I liked the cake best because it was the most delicious part of the whole book and it was super funny. My favourite character was Greta because she was incredibly clever and had very interesting ideas about her cake mystery...!
Mia from Barwick-in-elmet Church of England primary School:
It is a very good book. It has a great mystery to the story. It makes you want to read more books.
Mia gave Greta Zargo and the Death Robots from Outer Space 5 out of 5 and now plans to read Me and Mister P by Maria Farrer.
Charlotte from Kippax Greenfield Primary School:
This book is a bit weird because of the crazy words they are also hard to pronounce. My favorite character is Jonathon.Reading this book made me hungry.
Charlotte gave Greta Zargo and the Death Robots from Outer Space 2 out of 5 and now plans to read Knighthood for Beginners by Elys Dolan.
Savannah from Kippax Greenfield Primary School:
I like the start when there was a map of the village and the solar system .How ever I did know how to pronouns some words
Usaid from Carr Manor Primary School:
I <3 how it was funny because i liked the funny characters like: Mr Padlock,and i loved the part when the robots asked strangers "Can I have your planet." I would recommend this book to 7-9 children.:)
Usaid gave Greta Zargo and the Death Robots from Outer Space 5 out of 5 and now plans to read Me and Mister P by Maria Farrer.
lauren from carr manor primary:
I like it because it is funny and there was weird and wonderful characters. I would recommend the book to over kids.
lauren gave Greta Zargo and the Death Robots from Outer Space 5 out of 5 and now plans to read Knighthood for Beginners by Elys Dolan.
Holly from Southroyd Primary:
I thought this book was a bit boring however I liked the cake mystery a bit. I also thought it was quite confusing because there were lots of things happening at the same time.
Holly gave Greta Zargo and the Death Robots from Outer Space 1 out of 5 and now plans to read Knighthood for Beginners by Elys Dolan.
Patrick from Whinmoor St Paul's C of E Primary School:
When i skimmed the book it didn't appear to be very interesting but when i actually read it, it came to about 3 out of 5 stars for me.
Patrick gave Greta Zargo and the Death Robots from Outer Space 3 out of 5 and now plans to read Knighthood for Beginners by Elys Dolan.
Madi from Whinmoor St Pauls C of E Primary School:
I enjoyed the book a little bit but not very much because it seems to go on forever and ever so I wouldn't recommend it to any one under the age of 10. I gave it 1 star because it was about a mystery, 1 because it was inspiring and 1 because it had cake involved. I wouldn't recommend it to anybody under the age of 10 and 20 I think that it would be good if you are a CSI ( crime scene investigator ) you would enjoy it but I still don't really like it.
Harrison from Kippax Greenfield Primary School:
The book is adventurous and good for people who like funny stories and has words for people over 7+ and is about a girl who saves the world. When she turned 8 she moved into her parents house and got a job. Also, its a amazing book overall. Children will like the book if they like humorous things and also random things happen in the story. I would recommend this book for people who like humorous and adventurous stories. I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars!
Harrison gave Greta Zargo and the Death Robots from Outer Space 5 out of 5 and now plans to read Knighthood for Beginners by Elys Dolan.
Rian from Pudsey Primros Hill :
I didn't like this book because I don't like Robots and scary books.
Isabelle from Oulton primary:
It was a good book.the start of it was a bit boring though.i liked the characters in it and it was quite funny
Isabelle gave Greta Zargo and the Death Robots from Outer Space 3 out of 5 and now plans to read Attack of the Alien Dung! by Gareth P Jones.
Yusuf from Whinmoor ST Pauls C of E Primary School:
This book made me drool [not really].It was funny how she was in one problem and a problem to save earth.I liked how she jumped to conclusions.It must have taken guts to ask the old lady if she ate it. I wish one of my family was an inventor.I loved it!!!!!!!!!
Jacob from Great Preston c of e primary school:
It was really interesting to read and it hooked my mind to what it is about
Lily-Rose from Great Preston school :
I loved this book it was amazing.
Keeley from Great Preston c of e primary school:
I don't really like this book because it is really confusing and boring but sometimes it can be good.
Yusuf from Whinmoor St Paul's Primary School :
I really liked Greta Zargo. I liked the ideas and the names. I liked the way she was in one problem and getting in an even bigger one. I really want to read the next one!
Serea from Whinmoor St Pauls:
Dear A.F Harrold
I enjoyed reading your book.You have great adjectives which makes the book not so boring! I hope more people will enjoy reading your fabulous book! I appreciate all your effort on Greta Zargo and the Death Robots From Outer Space! Serea
Serea gave Greta Zargo and the Death Robots from Outer Space 4 out of 5 and now plans to read The Incredible Dadventure by Dave Lowe.
Jamie from Pudsey primrose Hill:
I liked the book because it was mysterious. It was sad but I still liked the book!
Francesca from Whinmoor St Paul's C of E Primary School:
I'm not sure this book was for me. I didn't really enjoy reading about the space robots. I'k not into sci-fi! However, I did like Greta Zargo's Aunt - she was quite a character and was quite funny.
Francesca gave Greta Zargo and the Death Robots from Outer Space 3 out of 5 and now plans to read The Incredible Dadventure by Dave Lowe.
Ruairi from Immaculate Heart of Mary :
It was a good book, it was really exciting. I think the book should have a different name, it should be called 'Greta Zargo and the Mystery of the Missing Cakes'.
Ruairi gave Greta Zargo and the Death Robots from Outer Space 5 out of 5 and now plans to read Knighthood for Beginners by Elys Dolan.
Elio from West End Primary School:
I absoloutley loved it because there is a lot of DESTRUCTION !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
KATIE from West End Primary School:
I love this book because there is alot going on instead of just one thing. I also like all the mysterys and solving them. It's intresting how everything all fits together at the end.
KATIE gave Greta Zargo and the Death Robots from Outer Space 5 out of 5 and now plans to read Me and Mister P by Maria Farrer.
Nadia from Whinmoor St Paul's C of E Primary School:
This book was full of surprises and I didn't know what the Prime Minister was going do next. It got me thinking about aliens and whether or not they are real.
Nadia gave Greta Zargo and the Death Robots from Outer Space 4 out of 5 and now plans to read Knighthood for Beginners by Elys Dolan.
Carlos from Whinmoor St Paul's C of E Primary School:
I liked that it had an adventure part in it and it kept me guessing as to what was going to happen. It was exciting and I couldn't put the book down.
