Puppy Fat

Misery Guts #3

by Morris Gleitzman

'What section do you want to advertise in? Toys? Sporting Equipment? Computers and Video Games?'

The woman in the newspaper office took off her glasses and polished them on her cardigan.
'What are you advertising?'

'My Parents,' said Keith.

What does a kid do when his Mum and Dad are past it?

Get them into shape, decides Keith. And find them new partners.

It's a brilliant plan-but he'll need help.

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Humor, Young Adult

Paperback

First published January 30, 1992

About the author

Morris began his writing career as a screenwriter, and wrote his first children's novel in 1985. His brilliantly comic style has endeared him to children and adults alike, and he is now one of Australia's most successful authors, both internationally and at home. He was born in England in 1953 and emigrated to Australia in 1969 so he could escape from school and become a Very Famous Writer.

Before realising that dream, he had a colourful career as paperboy, bottle-shop shelf-stacker, department store Santa Claus, frozen chicken defroster, fashion-design assistant and sugar-mill employee. In between he managed to gain a degree in Professional Writing at the Canberra College of Advanced Education. Later he became sole writer for three award-winning and top-rating seasons with the TV comedy series The Norman Gunston Show.

Morris wrote a number of feature film and telemovie screenplays, including The Other Facts of Life and Second Childhood, both produced by The Australian Children's Television Foundation. The Other Facts of Life won an AWGIE Award for the Best Original Children's Film Script.

He also wrote live stage material for people such as Rolf Harris, Pamela Stephenson and the Governor General of Australia. Morris is well known to many people through his semi-autobiographical columns in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald magazine, Good Weekend, which he wrote for nine years.

But the majority of Morris' accolades are for his hugely popular children's books. One of his most successful books for young people is Two Weeks with the Queen, an international bestseller which was also adapted into a play by Mary Morris. The play had many successful seasons in Australia and was then produced at the National Theatre in London in 1995 directed by Alan Ayckbourn, and also in South Africa, Canada, Japan and the USA.

All his other books have been shortlisted for or have won numerous children's book prizes. These include The Other Facts of Life, Second Childhood, Misery Guts, Worry Warts, Puppy Fat, Blabber Mouth, Sticky Beak, Belly Flop, Water Wings, Bumface, Gift Of The Gab, Toad Rage, Wicked! and Deadly!, two six-part novels written in collaboration with Paul Jennings, Adults Only, Toad Heaven, Boy Overboard, Teacher's Pet, Toad Away, Girl Underground, Worm Story, Once, Aristotle's Nostril, Doubting Thomas, Give Peas A Chance, Then, Toad Surprise, Grace, Now, Too Small To Fail, and his latest book, Pizza Cake. Morris' children's books have been published in the UK, the USA, Germany, Italy, Japan, France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Indonesia and Czechoslovakia, Russia and China.

Reviews

[Brooke Stubbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as fun or funny as the first two books. This book deals with more serious subject matters than either of the first two books.

[Pujiyanto_x · Rating 3 out of 5]

yup-- Gleitzman sekali lagi berhasil membuatku tersenyum-senyum bahkan tertawa saat membaca buku yang satu ini.
Beliau berhasil menghidupkan kekonyolan tokoh utamanya lewat pikirannya yang penuh dugaan karena berpangkal pada kecemasan. Dan seperti buku lainnya yang sudah aku baca, tokoh utamanya dibuat penuh imajinasi liar saat menghadapi gejolak permasalahannya.
Dalam Puppy Fat ini bercerita tentang seorang anak bernama Keith yang mengkhawatirkan kelanjutan kehidupan rumah tangga orang tuanya setelah mereka resmi berpisah. Berbagai upaya dilakukan oleh Keith, mulai dari mengiklankan orang tuanya masing-masing ke biro jodoh sampai-sampai mendatangkan seseorang yang diharapkannya mampu merubah penampilan ayah-ibunya agar keduanya segera mendapatkan teman kencan.

Pesan moral yang ingin disampaikan penulis sangat mengena lewat tulisan yang satu ini, yaitu melihat seseorang jangan lewat penampilannya saja.

[Kirsti · Rating 2 out of 5]

Morris Gleitzman was a favorite author when I was in primary school and I read everything he put out. The covers were quirky and weird, and every time I laughed and wanted more.

*Note, I haven't read these since I was a child myself, so this review will be repeated across all of Gleitzman's books I marked as read many years ago ;)

[Ayunda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lucu, diselesaikan di pesawat menuju Medan. Dipinjam dari toko buku deket rumah, ZOE buat pengisi liburan.

Ceritanya tentang seorang anak yang berusaha membuat orangtuanya bahagia, dibantu oleh teman baiknya yang dari Australia.

[Wanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

not really good novel for children i think... bit bored...

[Uci · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tidak sekeren Blabber Mouth...

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good fun still, but sadly just not as awesome as the first two.

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Idenya bagus, tentang menghargai bentuk tubuh sendiri dan bahagia dengan apa pun keadaan tubuh kita. Cukup sederhana jg, apalagi targetnya anak-anak. Cuma, plotnya kurang seru.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this as a child and found it an ok read but I honestly cannot remember what happens - so i don't think I enjoyed it that much

[Gypsy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had to read this for school
Didn't enjoy it

[Alisha Brook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Morris Gleitzman was one of my absolute favourite childhood authors - I even got his autograph! His books are light and easy to read and have a comedic value only Andy Griffiths could match.

[Melissa]

love this book. I got to meet Mr Gleitzman and have my copy autographed.

[tmo. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not exactly my taste when I was a young reader.

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't really remember liking this one when I read it in primary school. Nothing stood out to me and don't think I liked the main character very much.