The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm

Written by Norman Hunter

Narrated by Martin Jarvis

Eccentric, absent-minded inventor Professor Branestawm embarks on a series of adventures with his friend Colonel Dedshott. Various machines are invented: a time travel-machine, a device to capture and tie up burglars, and a spring-cleaning machine. Inevitably, something goes wrong and Professor Branestawm is again in a pickle, exasperating his housekeeper Mrs Flittersnoop and delighting us.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Naxos Audiobooks
• Release date: Jul 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9781843795261

Reviews for The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm

[electrascaife · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Professor Branestawm is an absent-minded inventor who has five different pairs of glasses (at the same time) and gets into all sorts of crazy situations. This one didn't do much for me. It seems like a bedtime story that a parent is making up haphazardly as he goes along, without much thought invested and while trying too hard to be silly.

[michael5rimmer · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I read this when I was about 7, so there's not much I remember about it now, some 40-odd years later. However, I do remember it so it obviously made a favourable impression on me at the time. Or maybe it's where I was reading it that makes it memorable, as I have a very strong sense of place about this book. I was staying with my Nana at the time and I recall reading it in my makeshift bed, which was a broken lilo at her bedside. Snuggled under a blanket with her pet chihuahua, Mecksie, the light is subdued and I'm comfortable, safe and secure. This is my favourite thing: reading! It's my refuge.

[jon1lambert · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I remember reading this as a child in the orange and black Penguin edition. I'm not sure why. It must have been something to do with the absurdity of the inventions and the language. Later I picked up a copy of the 75th diamond anniversary published by Red Fox in 2008 and read the chapter about the Professor borrowing a book. His absent-mindedness leads to him borrowing and losing 14 copies of the same book: The life and likings of a lobster. He manages to borrow the book from 14 libraries in Pagwell. This is absurd, of course. Which town has as many as 14 branch libraries today? Suspending my disbelief I read in and was greatly amused by the ending. All the copies were in the Professor's house, classified and placed on different shelves. The first paragraph is very good too, describing the atmosphere of Great Pagwell library" 'Some of the library men were feeding the book worms, others were rubbing out the pencil marks that people aren't supposed to make on books but often do. Others were looking to see if anyone had left anything useful in the books, which they never do, only old bus tickets and things".

[ablueidol · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Who cares that's it for 10 year olds. I enjoy them and have for over 30 years. Aided by the wonderful W.Heath Robinson drawings

[myopicbookworm · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I thought these stories were wonderful when I was about 9, and I still do. My favourite story ('The Professor Borrows a Book') will have a special resonance for many on LibraryThing. The professor cannot find the copy of The Life and Likings of a Lobster that he has borrowed from Great Pagwell library, and has to borrow another copy from Little Pagwell library. Then both are overdue, and he can't find either, and has to rush to Upper Pagwell library for a copy to return to the other libraries and then take out again. Eventually, when he is cycling round keeping fourteen libraries going on one copy, the librarians all come to tea, and find all the lost books shelved in different sections of his library ('Lobsters', 'Biographies', 'Natural History', 'Folklore', etc.). Clearly, Professor Branestawm needs LibraryThing!

[debnance_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

How is it that this book has eluded me all my life? It should be in every library in the world. Yes, a worthy choice for 1001 Children’s Books You Must Read.Professor Branestawm (his last name, I learned, is a homophone of the word “brainstorm”) is a classic absent-minded professor. The professor spends his days creating amazing inventions like a Spring-Cleaning Machine and an Elixir of Vitality and a Clock-That-Doesn’t-Need-Winding, always accompanied by his patient housekeeper Mrs. Flittersnoop and his loyal friend Colonel Dedshot. I can see movie makers eating this movie up.A 1001 Children’s Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up.