De Hapsnurkers in de puree

The Grunts #1

by Philip Ardagh

Ken je de HAPSNURKERS al? Die mensen zijn gewoon VERSCHRIKKELIJK! Ze trekken rond in een ANGSTAANJAGENDE caravan, eten stoofschotels van PLATGEREDEN kraaien en eekhoorntjes en maken RUZIE met IEDEREEN. Ooit stalen ze een baby die ergens hing te drogen aan een waslijn en noemden hem hun ZOON Sunny. Sunny’s voornaamste bezigheid is de Hapsnurkers uit de problemen te houden. Maar dankzij Baron Méér, Mik Minder, Mimi de schoenlappersjongen en een circusolifant (en nog VEEL MÉÉR anderen) is dat onbegonnen werk. Lees het allemaal ZELF maar. Niet schrikken, hoor. VAN 8 TOT 108 JAAREN PAS OP VOOR DE BIJEN!

Genres: Young Adult, Humor

151 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2012

About the author

Over six-and-a-half feet tall, with a bushy beard, Philip Ardagh is not only very big but also very hairy. He is the author of the Eddie Dickens Trilogy and when not writing silly books, Mr. Ardagh is quite serious and frowns a great deal. He lives in a seaside town somewhere in England with his wife and their son, Fred.

Reviews

[Federica]

Ormai Philip Ardagh è segnato fra i miei autori scompiscevoli, come riesce a farmi ridere lui, nessuno (o meglio, pochi altri) mai.

[Beka Adamashvili]

თავიდან ცოტა სკეპტიკურად დავიწყე კითხვა და რაღაც ეტაპამდე მეგონა, რომ "კაცია-ადამიანი?!"-ს ალტერნატიულ სიქველს ვკითხულობდი, სადაც ლუარსაბსა და დარეჯანს ბავშვი შეეძინათ, რის შემდეგაც სახელები შეიცვალეს და სამყაროს გარშემო ხეტიალს შეუდგნენ, მაგრამ თანდათან ეს განწყობა ბექსელისეულმა პერსონაჟებმა (ერთი - გამოგონილ საგნებს ხელმეორედ რომ იგონებს - სულაც დაემთხვა კიდეც), ლურსმანასეულმა რემინისცენციებმა და მსუბუქმა იუმორმა ისე გადაასხვაფერა, რომ ჩემი სკეპტიციზმი უარვყავი და ეს ძალიან გრძელი წინადადება დავწერე, რომელიც ამავე წინადადების სიგრძეზე თვითრეფლექსიით დასრულდა კიდეც.

[Molly Cook]

I thought that this was a really good read as it was so funny all the way through. It was actually nice and extremely interesting. My favourite character was Mrs Grunt because she coloured the cat blue!

[Sally]

I read this with my six year old daughter and she thought it was amazing. We both thoroughly enjoyed it 😊.

[paola]

questo è uno di quei libri che verrebbe voglia di sentire letti a voce alta possibilmente dall'autore ( essendo l'autore estremamente divertente ed assai presente come narratore anche nel libro).
ha inoltre un grandissimo pregio che non sempre facile trovare nei libri per bambini: è divertente! tra assurdità e personaggi improbabili per non dire strambi, giocando sul nonsense, regala risate crasse, e a volte questo è tutto quello che basta in un libro.

[Lola]

Its a bit weirrd because they like to eat disgusting things. (L, aged 5)

[Margaret McCulloch-Keeble]

If the kids at school don't like this then I'm doing something wrong!

[Laura Mitchell]

Probably quite a good book to read aloud to year 3/4 - quite Twits-esque.

[Km]

Nice dialogies, witty comments by the author / story tellers, story less not so interesting.

[Grsteams]

Very good

[Simi]

Moralisch gesehen vielleicht etwas verwerflich, aber unglaublich unterhaltsam

[Ani Kopaliani]

უსაყვარლესი წიგნია და უნდა აღინიშნოს, რომ საუკეთესო თარგმანია.

[Olivia Skipp]

This is such a hilarious book: I couldn’t put it down and read it in about 4 hours. Good for readers aged 4-12

[TheReader]

Sweet opening but all downhill from there with the endless asides and tangents.
A cumbersome read. Dnf.

[Roma]

some roald dahl vibes here and there but with slightly more irritating characters and a not so satisfying ending. fun details in the prose tho!!

[Bila]

Ich mag die Erzählerfigur nicht. Das Kind musste zweimal lachen. Aber unter fünfmal lachen machen wir es nicht. 😉

[Kai]

While read

[Anthony Burt]

Philip Ardagh's a funny guy, and this book of his was very funny too. It was well-written, and - I know it's for an age much younger than mine - but there was something about the story that made it very engaging and appealing to all ages.

The Grunts themselves are a light-hearted, silly, mad and disgusting invention...all things kids love. I'm not a huge fan of author interruptions in books, but some of them here are very self-referentially witty! Fun for all the family to be had with this episode of the Grunts... :-)

[Yvonne]

A Roald Dahl-ish MG book that would be great to read aloud in a group setting. I would also recommend it to reluctant readers looking for a short (109 pages) funny story to read. Axel Scheffler's artwork is perfect for this book. Since it was originally published in England, you can expect some British spellings (realise, tyre) and words (moggy, caravan) that may require explanation. This is advertised to be the first book in a 4-part series.

[Johara Almogbel]

I'm kind of conflicted on this one. On one hand, I really liked Philipp Ardagh when I saw him in the Emirates Literary Festival, he's funny and nice and a general all around decent person. On the other, The Grunts reminded me of a kiddy version of Punch and Judy. But I enjoyed the bits where the writer talks to the reader. And I like that the whole story doesn't take itself too seriously. So. There's that.

[Donna]

I enjoyed this more than I expected to, and out of the two picks for my book group this month, I preferred this one. This did come as a bit of a surprise for me as I wasn't expecting much. Sure I'm probably not the right age to enjoy the humour but it was a good story that kept me interested. I also enjoyed the narrative voice in the novel which was constantly in conversation with the reader.
I'd recconmend this to kids who enjoy Rhold Dahl (the twits especially).

[Lil Jen]

This book was hard to finish because of all the tangents that the authors goes on. Much of the story line is predicable, but a reader who is looking for a quick read and might struggle a bit will enjoy the story.

[Melissa Kane]

My 6-year-old son really enjoyed this book. I found the sentences rather long and rambling, which made reading out loud a bit of a challenge at times, but it was quite fun and definitely appealed to its target readership.