Inspiring Young Readers

posted on 02 Jun 2026

Ham, Ed and Chips by Tom Phipps. 

This story of a hyperactive alien, a scholarly bird and a nice-but-dim domestic dog seems like the opening of a new series. The story takes a little while to get going as Phipps has to introduce his (appealing) cast of characters and to set the fairly convoluted plot in motion.  

Once things start going, though, they really go, with one scene after of another inventive digressions and, probably most appealingly an abundance of just-challenging-enough wordplay to make a child feel clever for getting the joke and enough light scatology and gentle spoofing of the adult world to bring almost any child along for the ride. 

Not every joke lands, but they come so thick and fast that even adult readers might find themselves releasing the occasional snort. I particularly found myself warming to the putative villain, an over-pampered dog with a yearning, and a plan to lead his people back to their dirty, wolfish, natural state. 

Phipps seems to have room for plenty more stories than this one book could comfortably accommodate – with several interesting but underused characters (Chips’s human owner Molly, her achievement-focused Mum). Children beginning to read for their own pleasure often enjoy a series of variations on a theme as, I suppose, do the rest of us; there’s almost always another Woodehouse to enjoy… and now I think of it Ham, Ed and Chips aren’t a million miles from Bertie, Jeeves and Gussie Fink-Nottle.  

This is certainly worth a punt for the kind of child who enjoys the adventures of Dogman or the 13 Story Treehouse gang and might be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Your local independent bookshop will surely be happy to order you a copy if they don’t already have it in stock. 

 

Dan Whisker

June 2026