What do you think?
Rate this book
Bad Habits
Lucretia Crum is a little monster with big, bad and very nasty habits. She wants a birthday party but all the really big monsters turn up and they're really, really bad! The curing of Lucretia is told through fantastically comical illustrations and a naughty but fun text.
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
114 people want to read
About the author
Babette Cole
109 books76 followersBabette Cole was a British children's author and illustrator. Born on the island of Jersey in the Channel Islands in 1949, she attended the Canterbury College of Art (now the University for the Creative Arts) and received first-class BA Honors. She worked on such children's programmes as Bagpuss (working with Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin) and Jackanory for BBC television.
As a children's writer, Cole created more than 150 picture books. Her best-seller Doctor Dog has been adapted as a successful children's cartoon series. Much of her work is earthy comedy, having titles like The Smelly Book, The Hairy Book, The Slimy Book and The Silly Book.
She spent her time writing, visiting schools and traveling. After a short illness she died on 15 January 2017, aged 66.
As a children's writer, Cole created more than 150 picture books. Her best-seller Doctor Dog has been adapted as a successful children's cartoon series. Much of her work is earthy comedy, having titles like The Smelly Book, The Hairy Book, The Slimy Book and The Silly Book.
She spent her time writing, visiting schools and traveling. After a short illness she died on 15 January 2017, aged 66.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
December 4, 2020
Lucretzia Crum is a horrid, horrid child.
You might even be tempted to call her "an uncivilized little monster!"
Until one day, her parents devise a diabolical plan to get their daughter to change her ways.
Most kids, particularly those who love gross-out humor, should get a kick out of this one.
You might even be tempted to call her "an uncivilized little monster!"
Until one day, her parents devise a diabolical plan to get their daughter to change her ways.
Most kids, particularly those who love gross-out humor, should get a kick out of this one.
October 5, 2015
2.5 stars
February 13, 2017
'Bad Habits' is about a young girl, Lucretzia, who has many bad habits and terrorises her parents and teachers with her persistent bad behaviour. Although after being tricked by her parents, she realises what could be the consequences of her bad habits which encourages her to change into 'a civilised little angel'. It would be ideal for teaching children about social etiquette and evoke discussions on what bad habits are, and why.
The word and imagery of monsters is repeated throughout the book, reflecting how Lucretzia's behaviour was so bad she was like a monster, which helps the reader see the extent of her bad behaviour. The illustrations are fairly detailed with lots of different aspects to look at, they were also good for helping the reader understand the mood of the situations through the facial expressions of characters being visible. More could have been added to the plot, although it works as being simplistic due to the message it sends on bad behaviour. I would be interested to know if Lucretzia was always 'an uncivilised little monster' and where she learnt all her bad habits!
The word and imagery of monsters is repeated throughout the book, reflecting how Lucretzia's behaviour was so bad she was like a monster, which helps the reader see the extent of her bad behaviour. The illustrations are fairly detailed with lots of different aspects to look at, they were also good for helping the reader understand the mood of the situations through the facial expressions of characters being visible. More could have been added to the plot, although it works as being simplistic due to the message it sends on bad behaviour. I would be interested to know if Lucretzia was always 'an uncivilised little monster' and where she learnt all her bad habits!
January 16, 2010
Usually, I have not read many books by Babette Cole ever since I was a child, so “Bad Habits” is the first book by Babette Cole that I have ever read. After I read this book, I actually began thinking, “hey, this book is not so bad after all.” But, yeah, there were some points of the book that I was a bit concerned about. Anyway, I will explain the cons of this book later on in this review right after I give a brief summary about “Bad Habits.”
Babette Cole masterfully tells the story of an uncivilized brat who changes her ways after she realizes that she might become a monster if she continues acting rudely towards everyone. Cole sets a perfect moral at the end of the story telling the readers that they should not act uncivilized or else they will turn out to be monsters, although this will not turn out in a literal sense. Babette Cole’s illustrations are both humorous and mischievous at the same time as they outlined a dirty looking Lucretzia Crum burping and farting out clouds of gas.
“Bad Habits” is a great cautionary tale about what happens when children misbehave and Babette Cole does a great job at not holding back on the real issue in this story, which is how the parents resolve to changing Lucretzia’s rude behavior to make her better behaved. I would strongly recommend this book to kids ages four and up. Of course, parents should have a discussion about rude behaviors and about the monsters in the book before they recommend this title to them.
Babette Cole masterfully tells the story of an uncivilized brat who changes her ways after she realizes that she might become a monster if she continues acting rudely towards everyone. Cole sets a perfect moral at the end of the story telling the readers that they should not act uncivilized or else they will turn out to be monsters, although this will not turn out in a literal sense. Babette Cole’s illustrations are both humorous and mischievous at the same time as they outlined a dirty looking Lucretzia Crum burping and farting out clouds of gas.
“Bad Habits” is a great cautionary tale about what happens when children misbehave and Babette Cole does a great job at not holding back on the real issue in this story, which is how the parents resolve to changing Lucretzia’s rude behavior to make her better behaved. I would strongly recommend this book to kids ages four and up. Of course, parents should have a discussion about rude behaviors and about the monsters in the book before they recommend this title to them.
April 30, 2012
This is a humorous story about a rude and ill-tempered little girl named Lucretzia Crum. I laughed when I saw her name and simply explained to our girls that there was a notoriously famous woman in the late 1400s/early 1500s who had a similar name, "Lucrezia." Later on, we were reading Patrick Ryan's book Shakespeare's Storybook: Folk Tales That Inspired the Bard. In it, the story of Lucretia was referenced, stating that Shakespeare mentioned her in several of his works, including As You Like It, which is one of the tales highlighted in the book. While all of these similarly-named female characters are different, seeing them just reminds me that I find the oddest coincidences in my reading. I rarely see the name Lucretia and in one night, I see it twice. Very odd.
In any case, this is a funny book and our girls laughed uproariously, especially at the potty humor in the beginning. The unconventional way her parents convinced her to behave is hilarious, but effective. Overall, this is a very entertaining story. The illustrations are terrific and complement the story nicely. We really enjoyed reading this story together.
In any case, this is a funny book and our girls laughed uproariously, especially at the potty humor in the beginning. The unconventional way her parents convinced her to behave is hilarious, but effective. Overall, this is a very entertaining story. The illustrations are terrific and complement the story nicely. We really enjoyed reading this story together.
September 12, 2014
This book begins with an inventory of Lucretzia Crum's bad habits including being filthy, burping and bending over to fart. She throws tantrums, eats only candy and hurts other people. When other parents complain, her dad's solution is to create inventions that torture the girl by making her smell her own gas, wrapping her in metal tubing, making her unable to move her arms, and putting her in a cage outside the classroom window. Oh, but the horrible parenting doesn't end there. At Lucretzia's birthday party, the parents bring in a group of monsters. One of them has a head in the shape of a bottom and it farts ( this picture alone grossed me out).
Okay, I understand off humor, but not in a young children's picture book. This book is rated for ages 4-8. I don't believe it is appropriate for four year olds to read this book. Anyone who works with this age children knows the kids will be copying everything they see in this book, not learning any lesson about how to behave. The parents never correct the girls' behavior by setting limits, they simply scare her into behaving.
This entire book was more appropriate for middle school than young children.
Okay, I understand off humor, but not in a young children's picture book. This book is rated for ages 4-8. I don't believe it is appropriate for four year olds to read this book. Anyone who works with this age children knows the kids will be copying everything they see in this book, not learning any lesson about how to behave. The parents never correct the girls' behavior by setting limits, they simply scare her into behaving.
This entire book was more appropriate for middle school than young children.
October 30, 2016
LIFE Stories
1. No award
2. 3- 5 yrs. old
3. Lucretzia Crum was a little monster that was very mean and rude to her peers, family and adults by talking back, farting, taking things and many more. She influenced her peers to become just like her until the day of her birthday where everything turned around. Uninvited little monsters came to the party ruining everything and something inside of Lucretzia Crum made her change her self-attitude.
4. I enjoyed reading this book because readers can learn about the good and bad things people do. There are multiple life learning lessons in this book that teachers and parents can teach their young ones about appropriate and respectful behavior. The illustrations of this book is simple and comical to lighten the mood of the terrible things Lucretzia does.
5. This book can be used in the classroom to discuss about classroom rules and doing good actions. Students can point out things that they have done that were not very nice and think of a solution to fix it.
1. No award
2. 3- 5 yrs. old
3. Lucretzia Crum was a little monster that was very mean and rude to her peers, family and adults by talking back, farting, taking things and many more. She influenced her peers to become just like her until the day of her birthday where everything turned around. Uninvited little monsters came to the party ruining everything and something inside of Lucretzia Crum made her change her self-attitude.
4. I enjoyed reading this book because readers can learn about the good and bad things people do. There are multiple life learning lessons in this book that teachers and parents can teach their young ones about appropriate and respectful behavior. The illustrations of this book is simple and comical to lighten the mood of the terrible things Lucretzia does.
5. This book can be used in the classroom to discuss about classroom rules and doing good actions. Students can point out things that they have done that were not very nice and think of a solution to fix it.
May 12, 2009
Lucretzia Crum burps, farts, picks her nose and acts like a little monster until her parents play a trick on her to show her what she'll be like when she grows up if she doesn't change her ways. Good for teaching manners and discussing social skills.
February 17, 2016
Nice resolution, and it might work with 3-4 year olds, but probably not those with older siblings or those already in school. My kids can't imagine this would actually work with taming some of their friends' bad manners.
February 20, 2016
A ratbag kid gets a taste of her own medicine when her parents set out to teach her that little monsters can grow up to be big monsters. A good morality tale, but the humour was definitely aimed at kids (fart jokes abound).
June 25, 2021
Lucretzia Crum was the worst behaving child around, but her friends thought her terrible antics were so cool they started copying her. All the parents were horrified. When it was Lucretzia's birthday she demanded a party, so her parents planned a very special one for her. It turned out to be a monster of a party, from which Lucretzia learned something very important.
I never thought I would read and see such un-nice things in a picture book. The point is made and the wild illustrations reveal a secret at the end.
I never thought I would read and see such un-nice things in a picture book. The point is made and the wild illustrations reveal a secret at the end.
September 30, 2017
Bizarre.
July 24, 2019
Olen tainnut täyttää hetkeksi Babette Cole -kiintiöni. Tällä hetkellä hänen kirjansa näyttäytyvät toistensa toisintona, eikä pieru- ja röyhtäilyjutut jaksa naurattaa loputtomiin.
August 30, 2021
A hyperbolic way to teach kids about manners
February 14, 2023
A life-changing book about a girl who misbehaves but other people want her to change. This really wants me to use it in my classroom.
April 2, 2023
#140 - 1001 Children's Books To Read Before You Grow Up
October 27, 2023
Children's Picture Books
Read from the '1001 Children's Books to Read Before You Grow Up' list.
Read from the '1001 Children's Books to Read Before You Grow Up' list.
January 21, 2016
Lucretzia Crum is a monster of a little girl. She's rude and mean and constantly misbehaves. Her parents try a variety of methods to get her to be good, but none of them work. None work, that is, until they get creative with her birthday party and demonstrate what happens to monstrous little girls when they grow up.
Fun and humorous illustrations.
Fun and humorous illustrations.
July 13, 2010
Pretty funny book about being little monsters. If you want to stay away from potty language though (like farting, etc), this isn't a good choice.
March 14, 2013
I wonder if this would cure my children of their bad habits..
March 30, 2014
I didn't really like this book so we're not persisting with it.
June 27, 2008
Nederlandse titel "Wilde Lucretia"
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews