FLOUR BABIES

The story centres around Simon Martin, a pupil in class 4C at an unnamed school. 4C is the class reserved for the school's under-achievers. As it so happens, a new student has arrived at the school, and, by sheer coincidence, his name is Martin Simon. The two boys are the complete antithesis of each other – Martin Simon passed all his science exams and even speaks French. The class teacher, Mr. Cartwright, sends the boy packing, and Simon soon arrives. The class are choosing their options for their contribution to the school Science Fair. They wish they could work on one of the more exciting experiments – The Exploding Custard Tins, Soap Factory, or Maggot Farm, for example – but these have been reserved for those who passed their science exams. As a result, 4C have ended up having to choose between a series of unexciting experiments. They end up doing "child development".
The experiment which Dr. Feltham (a science teacher who organises the fair) has chosen to do for child development is 'Flour Babies'. Each boy is given a six-pound bag of flour, in rags to form the look of a baby, and he must care for it all times, as if it were a real baby. They must also write a diary explaining how they cope with this responsibility. Needless to say, the boys do not want to do this experiment, but Simon misunderstands a conversation he overhears between Dr. Feltham and Mr. Cartwright, and thinks that they will get to kick the flour babies to bits at the end of the experiment. Simon becomes fond of his flour baby, while the others complain. Simon reflects on his own childhood: his Dad left home when Simon was just six weeks old, and never came back. His Mum frequently gets irritable, and, lumbered with a flour baby 24/7, Simon begins to understand why.