THE BLOCKBUSTERS!

A chance resemblance to a young starlet propels an ordinary Liverpudlian lad to instant celebrity in this ode to movie magic at its most dazzling.

Drawing on his own filmmaking experiences, the U.K.’s 2024-26 Children’s Laureate dishes up a delicious diversion with overtones of Shakespearean-style comedy. Having abruptly lost his home and also lost track of both his older brother, Cillian, and his struggling single mum, Rafa Rush is understandably feeling low. He must screw his courage to the sticking place when a class trip finds him on a movie set, dressed in Elizabethan costume as the body double for impulsive child superstar Beatrice “BB” Bonnie (as an assistant director says, “I’ve got a kid. It’s the right size. But it’s a boy. Apparently, Shakespeare wouldn’t mind”). BB vanishes, leaving Rafa not only to take her place as Shakespeare’s younger sister, Joan, in a science-fiction monster flick, but jetting off to California for a spectacular climactic kerfuffle at the Oscars. Poking good-humored fun at the industry as he goes, Cottrell-Boyce kits out his bemused but game protagonist with a cast of supporting scene-stealers led by his redoubtable teacher, who’s always ready with a pithy quote from the Bard. Reliably entertaining tropes since at least the 16th century, these whirling mistaken identities and gender swaps land the characters in good places by the end. Lenton’s exuberant illustrations add to the fun, showing a white-presenting Rafa surrounded by a diverse supporting cast.

Warm, playful, and frequently hilarious.