The Tale of Georgie Grub by Jeanne Willis and Margaret Chamberlain

The Tale of Georgie Grub by Jeanne Willis and Margaret Chamberlain
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Category: For Sharing
Reviewer: Keith Dudhnath
Summary: A brilliant cautionary tale of what happens to a boy who refuses to bathe. There's black comedy, without excluding sensitive souls, and muckiness, without being unpleasant. Recommended.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 32	Date: February 2011
Publisher: Andersen
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-1849392136
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Georgie Grub flat out refuses to have a bath. His mother is fed up of trying to get him clean, so she throws in the towel and leaves him to his filth. As the week goes on, he gets dirtier and dirtier. People hold their noses when he walks by, his teacher throws him out of school, and Georgie ends up scrabbling around in bins. Happy ending? Oh no no no. Georgie Grub gets his comeuppance, and quite right too, the mucky pup!

The Tale of Georgie Grub is excellent! Imagine a modern cautionary tale by Hilaire Belloc and you'll be on the right track. From the first pictures of Georgie struggling to stay out of the bath, you're straight into a high-energy, silly and mildly gross tale. I'm always a sucker for a black ending - especially in children's books - so seeing Georgie suddenly taken away by the bin men amused me greatly. Because Georgie's grubbiness has been sold so brilliantly beforehand, even overly sensitive young 'uns (and parents) will giggle at what could otherwise have been a bleak ending.

The rhymes and rhythms are superb throughout. It trips off the tongue brilliantly, crying out for kids to join in with the rhymes. You'll love reading Georgie Grub time and again, with its punchy writing and hilarious ideas. Young book fans of all ages (and all stages of grubbiness) will find plenty to amuse them.

Margaret Chamberlain's illustrations are as wonderful as ever. They have a friendly and charming style to them, whilst still playing to the wicked glint in the eyes of the story. Georgie is a total scruffbag, but he's never unpleasantly and shockingly gross. There's plenty going on to reward subsequent readings and studying of the pictures.

The Tale of Georgie Grub is ideal if you're looking for something a bit cheeky, a bit naughty, and lots of fun. Recommended.

My thanks to the publishers for sending it to Bookbag.

As far as cautionary tales go, we can't recommend Jim, Who Ran Away From His Nurse and Was Eaten By A Lion by Hilaire Belloc and Mini Grey highly enough. For black comedy in the denouement, it has to be Unfortunately by Alan Durant and Simon Rickerty. If messiness is your thing, check out Who Wants To Be A Poodle? I Don't by Lauren Child, Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion and The Girl With The Bird's Nest Hair by Sarah Dyer.

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You can read more book reviews or buy The Tale of Georgie Grub by Jeanne Willis and Margaret Chamberlain at Amazon.com.

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