Review – The Grunt and the Grouch by Tracey Corderoy
Vicki and Lucy have been reviewing ‘for little ones’ for us…
The Grunt and the Grouch – Tracey Corderoy
Meet The Grunt. The grumpiest, most bad-tempered and down right disgustingly filthy troll you could possible meet. He likes being on his own and wallowing in muck, and he hates Tuesdays. Only this Tuesday something strange is about to happen, because after his Tuesday afternoon trip to the local town centre to be perfectly horrid, he returns home to find a teeny little troll, every bit as disgusting as himself sitting on his lawn. Suspicious at first, he soon finds a friend in The Grouch and someone to share all the trollish things he likes. But after a week the Grouch says it’s time to go and a peculiar feeling comes over The Grunt. It feels like it might be sadness. Can he convince his new friend to stay?
Parents Beware! This is quite possibly one of the most disgusting books you will come across. Seriously stomach churning at times with talk and illustrations of snot, maggot cakes and mouldy teeth, it’s not pretty. So of course little ones will absolutely adore it and find it hilarious!
The Grunt and The Grouch kind of reminded me of Roald Dahl’s The Twits, they are really that disgusting, maybe even more so. My daughter laughed her way hysterically through this one then wanted it read over and over again. It’s a pretty simple story, and alongside the grossness and hilarity there’s a nice message about telling people how you really feel and being brave enough to reach out to them. I really liked this element to the story, so did my daughter who thought it was ever so sweet the trolls now have each other.
The writing in this book is simple and fun and will appeal to boys and girls from age 2-7 years. With clear, bold text it’s a great book for being read to or practising reading skills for older children and is engaging throughout. The illustrations are bright and detailed and utterly gross, which will delight young children, especially when they see your (exaggerated disgust). My daughter wanted to go back to the ‘snot’ page time and time again just to see me hide behind my eyes screaming ‘eeeuuuuw’
I definitely recommend The Grunt and The Grouch, it’s the type of book children will love, the author clearly knows what it is that gets a young child hooked on books. It’s five star fun from beginning to end.
Sounds brilliant, thanks Vicki! It’s in our shop for you now…
