The Grunts in Trouble

The Grunts #1

by Philip Ardagh, Axel Scheffler (Illustrator)

Meet Mr and Mrs Grunt. Oh, go on. They're not that bad. No, actually, they ARE. Maybe worse, even. But Sunny, their sort-of son, is okay. They stole him from a washing line as a baby. He was hanging by his ears, which probably explains why they're so wonky (but not why he has sticky-up hair that NEVER lies flat, even if you pour glue into it or try taping it in place). Sticky around and you'll also meet Lord Bigg of Bigg Manor, Bigg-hater Larry Smalls, Mimi the Bigg Manor boot boy (yup, she's a girl) and...Well, you'll have to READ the book to find that out. But I should mention the bees. Did I warn you about the bees?!

Genres: Young Adult, Humor

172 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

[Dea (Taylor's Version) 🍉 · Rating 3 out of 5]

And then i ask myself where all my money went.

[Federica · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

[Beka Adamashvili · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 · Rating 5 out of 5]

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

[paola · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

[Margaret McCulloch-Keeble · Rating 3 out of 5]

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

[Laura Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

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

[Km · Rating 3 out of 5]

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

[Grsteams · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very good

[Simi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moralisch gesehen vielleicht etwas verwerflich, aber unglaublich unterhaltsam

[Ani Kopaliani · Rating 5 out of 5]

უსაყვარლესი წიგნია და უნდა აღინიშნოს, რომ საუკეთესო თარგმანია.

[Olivia Skipp · Rating 5 out of 5]

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

[MisterT · Rating 1 out of 5]

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

[Roma · Rating 3 out of 5]

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!!

[Anthony Burt · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.