Fluffywuffy by Simon Puttock and Matt Robertson

Fluffywuffy by Simon Puttock and Matt Robertson
Buy Fluffywuffy by Simon Puttock and Matt Robertson at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: For Sharing
Reviewer: Ruth Ng
Summary: Darker than you might be expecting, I suspect this is one for daytime reading only...
Buy? maybe	Borrow? yes
Pages: 32	Date: August 2017
Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children's Books
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 9781847808714
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Mr Moot, and his dog Fluffywuffy, are very happy in their quiet little life together. But one day, Mr Moot's cousin, Clarence, comes knocking at the door and announces that he has come to stay for a week, or a month, or a year! Clarence turns out to be a most inconsiderate house guest. Whatever will Mr Moot do?

I do like Mr Moot. He looks rather a lot like my old French teacher, who I was very fond of, and I liked his increasingly worried expressions and his overly large glasses and moustache! He is, however, a bit of a pushover when it comes to his houseguest. Cousin Clarence is one of those annoying relatives - he's up in the middle of the night, playing the drums, riding his motorbike...his antics become increasingly distressing to Mr Moot and, also, to Fluffywuffy. One night Mr Moot wakes up to a very odd noise, that gets louder and louder and ends in a scrunk! When Mr Moot goes downstairs he discovers that Cousin Clarence has disappeared, without so much as a goodbye or thank you! We see, as readers, that actually Fluffywuffy has eaten Cousin Clarence (!) and is very happy to have done so!

The illustrations in this book are brilliant, especially dear Mr Moot, and of course Fluffywuffy who, initially seems so sweet and innocent, but who gets increasingly riled by the naughty family member! The final illustration of the book, however, is a little bit disturbing, as it shows Fluffywuffy next to Cousin Clarence's bitten to pieces hat, with the most enormous grin on his doggy face and some rather human looking teeth. I wasn't quite sure if we were meant to think these were Clarence's teeth (which is disturbing in itself!) or if this is just how Fluffywuffy smiles, having got rid of the unwelcome guest...either way, it left me a little on edge.

Still, the book is easy to follow, and entertaining to read. The names are fun to read aloud, and I liked that it had sentences such as a noise of enormous proportions. The small details are good too, such as family photos on the walls, or Mr Moot's very large glasses resting on the bedside table at night.

Because of the disturbing smiling dog at the end, and the rather macabre resolution to the story, this might be a book that you want to borrow first, to try before you buy, just in case it doesn't go down to well. We've kept it for daytime reading in our house, rather than risking any bedtime nightmares. If your children are hardy little souls, with a taste for black humour, then they might enjoy it more!

Further reading suggestion: For a lighter doggy read, you might enjoy Fetch by Jane Cabrera or Some Dogs Do by Jez Alborough.

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You can read more book reviews or buy Fluffywuffy by Simon Puttock and Matt Robertson at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Fluffywuffy by Simon Puttock and Matt Robertson at Amazon.com.

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