Bangalee

Serendipity

by Stephen Cosgrove

Bangalee tries to persuade the other kritters to change their messy ways before the dreaded grunk arrives.

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Fiction, Fantasy, Animals, Classics, Young Adult

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

Reviews

[AmberBug com*]

I completely forgot about these books until I stumbled upon them on Goodreads. This author was one of my favorites growing up. I read the entire group of books over and over and over again. What fond memories this gave me!

[Audrey Baxter]

Hello Childhood Memories

So much fun to read a book I remember as a kid. Fun illustrations and a story that has a lesson and is fun to read. This book enthralled my children as much as it did me when I was little.

[Clara]

I adored this book! A great way to teach kids how to clean. Of course today's parents will just excuse it because of their spoiled brat's ADHD on everything as a way to avoid accountability. This book is a relic of a bygone era when basic cleaning was demanded from society.

I think the Grunk needs to pay modern society a visit...

[Cameron]

Woe is the sole voice of cleanliness amidst a world of junk, yet lo the many who messily meander and leave a trail of funk, for they will satisfy the hunger of the Grunk.

[Brittnee]

This book is so cute and relevant. Sometimes I feel like the Bangalee when I see people throwing garbage out of their car windows. This book has a great message for children.

[Karla]

This book comes with a moral, and from my childhood. Perhaps my consoling to motivate my sister and me to clean our room. I can't say it worked, but my banged up and battered copy of this book still makes me smile.
----
Re-read because it had my mom's handwriting in it and I was missing my mom.

[Fran]

HIP HIP HOORAY FOR CLEAN ROOMS SAVE THE DAY!!!!!

I liked this book beacause it persuadeds children to clean there rooms and be clean them selfs and trust me some kids really need it :3

[Cheryl]

This is a wonderful children’s book! Fun to read aloud with your child!

[Mary]

Ouch! I read 7 of this Serendipity series that I had bought almost 40 years ago. I don't remember what I thought of them, or what my daughter thought of them in the early 80s. The covers and illustrations are appealing, but rereading them today, the stories are way too didactic for me to enjoy. I read the reviews where people love these books they read when they were young, so obviously they were very popular, and my opinion is "out there". I only kept Bangalee as an example of the series, because the kritters are cute, and I keep wishing we all had Grunks instead of noisy trash trucks!

[Lanie Jones]

Bangalee has always been one of my favorite Serendipity books because it helped teach such an important lesson in a way children could easily understand. When I became a parent, it was one of the books I read with my own children, and it actually helped teach them the importance of cleaning up after themselves. The story is engaging, the illustrations are beautiful, and the lesson never feels like a lecture. That's one of the things I've always loved about Stephen Cosgrove's Serendipity books—they teach values through wonderful stories. Bangalee is still one of the books I recommend and will happily share with future generations of my family.

[Sandra]

Loved this book. I purchased the paperback in 1986 for our daughter and I am now reading it to our grandchildren.

Bangalee is a sweet little Kritter that prides himself on being clean and tidy, whereas his brothers are all messy throwing their clothes and junk all around the old, deserted castle. When a junk eating monster comes to the castle, the Kritters decide it's time to clean up.

A great story for children from 2-10.

[Ikayuro]

Out of all the ones I read today, I think I like this one the best! The little Kritters and their messy habits, and the Grunk who DEFINITELY needs to make a stop by my house so I can be motivated to clean it before he eats me, too! Absolutely adorable AND motivational for all ages!

[Shelly]

I read these as a kid and this is the first one I cracked into when I was able to find some on eBay. Looking for more in the near future! All about the importance of cleanliness and keeping your space tidy.

[Amy]

A classic from my childhood that I never reread as a kid.

[Kimberly Souza]

I absolutely love the serendipity series.

[Leilani Silva]

Gemini's favorite part about this book was when Bangalee asked the other kritters to help keep things clean.

[Ashley Waldron]

i’m gonna cry i miss this book so much. my dad would read it to me growing up i’m sobbing now

[Tom]

A hidden gem or a children book that my fiance and I will be reading in the future to our kid.

[Heidi]

3.5 stars

[Talea]

I grew up with Serendipity books. It was great to revisit my childhood for a little while. I had to laugh at the end of the book, especially as I still struggle with keeping my room clean.

[Robert Drake]

Very good way to teach a child to keep their room clean.

[K. Breen]

Adorable. All my love to Stephen Cosgrove and Robin James. ❤️

[Bronwen Merrill]

Found this in a little library in New Zealand and gave it a read :)

[Molly Warshaw]

These books were a staple of my childhood. I wish I hadn't given them away years ago, because now they've become hard to find. Or maybe I'm not looking hard enough. Any who, every child should read these books. The stories are fun and the illustrations are magical!

[K]

Maybe more like 2.5 stars, but I’ll leave the 3 for nostalgia. I like the garbage-eating Grunk, and the design of the Kritters is good, BUT the words don’t actually match up with the illustrations in this one.

We start off with a description of Kritters with “short furry legs, short furry arms, and a fat furry face that was always dirty.” Except the illustrations show round furry creatures with bare arms and legs (human-like, or maybe hobbit-like minus the furry feet). Then there’s Bangalee, the unique Kritter whose “face was always clean...hair was always combed, and you would never find him wearing dirty clothes.”

Well. None of them, including Bangalee, are wearing any clothes at all. You see piles of them lying around the castle as “trash” and “mess” but not a stitch actually on any of them. And Bangalee doesn’t look any cleaner or more clothed than the others.

I don’t think these are things that bothered me much as a kid, but as an adult it keeps pulling me out of the story. The words should line up with what we’re being visually shown!

And the basic message (“clean your room!”) whacks you over the head at the end more obviously than in a lot of other Serendipity stories. I think The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room did it better, or even another Serendipity book, Persnickity.

[Kelly (Maybedog)]

3.5 stars rounded up because I remember how much I loved this book as a kid and the creatures are so cute.

These Serendipity books are not withstanding the passing of time for me.

In Bangalee, the creatures are in danger of being eaten by a monster because they don't keep themselves or their home clean. Once they monster goes away, they keep it clean ever after. Of course the hero is, "...the one creature in the whole world who could always find that spot you missed." Nothing was said about him being just a little controlling or uptight.

Yeah, it's fine, but I just think children will see it as an impossible task to keep their rooms spotless. I would have preferred to see the creatures playing and then putting away their toys when they were done.

[Kat]

Basic plot: Bangalee doesn't like messes.

I think I got my first Serendipity book through a Scholastic book order or book fair. I quickly became obsessed and collected a ton and a half of them as a child. I would spend hours just looking at the pictures because the art is simply gorgeous. The stories were whimsical and fun, and always ended with some sort of life lesson for kids. I kept reading these books long after other picture books had been set aside.

[J]

The summary on this one is a bit off since the creatures don't seem to know what a grunk is until one shows up on their doorstep to eat away the trash left from the litter-bugging Kritters. The story was cute and entertaining while a fun way of getting one to be clean.

The Kritters went from one extreme to the other so I don't know how long they stayed a spotless cleaning creature but that is for the minds of the readers to ponder.

[Cowgirlgem]

I love love love Serendipity books and this one is my favorite one!

I just adore Robin James' illustrations, they are just so sweet, and the stories have nice messages.

Bangalee is about a sweet, quiet, tidy Kritter surrounded by messy, chaotic friends who learn the value of tidiness.

[Julie]

Great books for Children with moral to the stories.