Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang centres on the Green family who are struggling to keep Deep Valley Farm running while Mr. Green is away fighting in the second World War. Unfortunately for them, an Uncle is intent on getting the farm from under their noses. To make matters worse, the children then have to deal with their spoilt cousins coming to stay, having been sent to the countryside to avoid the bombings in the city. The person they need, is Nanny McPhee!

The book itself falls into two parts; the narrative and a filmic diary. Both written by Emma Thompson, the story is interspersed with anecdotes from the set. It’s difficult to judge the success of this, as an adult (since the book is clearly for children) since the location observations are largely superficial and consist of lots of ‘see glossary’ instructions in parenthesis. Again, it is clear why, since this is a kid’s book, so the fact that it got tedious for me probably shows that I’m too old to be reading it! At times I found myself thinking ‘just get on with the story!’. (To her credit, she does actually warn you at the beginning of the book, suggesting they might be read independently of each other). Having said that, there are moments that will entertain, such as Rhys Ifans (who plays the dastardly uncle in the movie) breaking a foot while playing football and Emma Thompson giving Nanny McPhee’s elongated earlobes to Ralph Fiennes (who plays the father of the cousins).

The story isn’t original or groundbreaking but it is incredibly touching. The characters are likable; I found myself very easily warming to them and caring about them. So much so that I actually cried at points – but I won’t tell you why! If I had to compare this Nanny McPhee to the first, I would say that I preferred this story. There seemed to be more substance to it and I found myself connecting with the characters a lot more. Having read the book and seen the film, I would have to say that I found the latter to be vastly more enjoyable and as such my advice would be to leave the book to the children and if you’re adult, don’t dismiss it entirely, definitely go and see the movie!

Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang can be purchased on Amazon.co.uk here.