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Stinkbomb and Ketchup-Face #1
Hajupommi ja Ketsuppinaama ja mälsät mäyrät
Liity kahden pelottoman sankarin matkaan tälle kaamean vaaralliselle ja mahtavan hilpeälle retkelle selvittämään, kuka varasti Hajupommin tennistossun. Hajupommi lähtee tapaamaan pikkusisarensa Ketsuppinaaman kanssa kuningasta ja pyytämään tältä apua. Matkalla he tapaavat mitä kummallisimpia tyyppejä. Ai niin, ja mukana kertomuksessa roikkuu pari hämäräperäistä mäyrää. Mustavalkoinen piirroskuvitus.
183 pages, Hardcover
First published January 2, 2014
18 people are currently reading
216 people want to read
About the author
John Dougherty
72 books19 followersJohn Dougherty is an award-winning Northern Irish children's writer, born in the town of Larne in 1964. He now lives in Gloucestershire.
He worked as a primary school teacher in London during the 1990s and early 2000s, and during this period began to write stories for children. His first book was published in 2004 and he left teaching the same year to concentrate on his writing career.
From November 2013 – 2015, he was chair of CWIG, the Children's Writer's and Illustrators Group, a sub-group of the UK's Society of Authors.
He worked as a primary school teacher in London during the 1990s and early 2000s, and during this period began to write stories for children. His first book was published in 2004 and he left teaching the same year to concentrate on his writing career.
From November 2013 – 2015, he was chair of CWIG, the Children's Writer's and Illustrators Group, a sub-group of the UK's Society of Authors.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews
March 3, 2019
I chose this as my first chapter book read aloud for my 4-, 5-, and 7-year-olds. The first several chapters were laugh-out-loud funny, but the humor seemed to fizzle out by the middle of the book. Random and silly, if you like that kind of thing. My kids would probably have given it 4 stars. This, unfortunately, means I will have to at least read them the second book in the series.
January 25, 2020
My PotterHead Running Club challenge called for reading “a book with a badger on the cover” or I probably would never have heard of this one. Its silliness level is somewhere between Captain Underpants and the Time Warp Trio series, best for kids who still think calling things by the wrong name, talking shopping carts, and singing thousands of verses of the same annoying song is hilarious. Like the Time Warp Trio series, the vocabulary is higher level than the humor in places, requiring the reader to know what a word actually means in order to get why using the wrong word is funny. Given that I’ve been unable to hook my elementary school patrons on the Time Warp Trio, I probably won’t bother buying this series. If you’ve got a book smart 7-year-old who still has that goofy kid sense of humor this might work though.
August 28, 2017
I would've loved this book as a kid! A hilarious take on the medieval fantasy story with lots of meta book jokes throughout (think Scieszka). I think format-wise this new series is great for those kids inbetween chapter books and middle grade novels.
August 5, 2025
Maybe a 3.5, really. This is a book whose author thinks the height of humor is people repeating the same lengthy phrases word-for-word, over and over again. That aspect of the book grew very quickly irritating, but there are other things I liked about it.
I liked that the characters knew and commented on the fact that they were in a story. I liked the AIRPLANE-style humor, as when Stinkbomb drew himself up in bed and then, afterward, put down his crayons and sat up in bed. (Ehh? Ehh? Get it?) Although it relied on repetition, I liked a bit where Ketchup-Face sings an interminable song and then fixes her audience with a hard glare after each verse to prevent them from complaining… it is not that scene that I liked, though, but one after that when Stinkbomb and Ketchup-Face are running away from pursuers but encounter a broken elevator. Luckily, Ketchup-Face “fixed it with a hard glare”.
There’s a scene where Stinkbomb pulls a bunch of stuff out of his pocket, including a sports car. The world of the book is wonderfully weird and runs on Looney Tunes logic. I like that about it. After reading it to my 4.5-year-old at bedtime, I would leave his bedroom eager to share some of the funniest or cleverest lines with my wife.
I’m not sure the story is very memorable overall, though, and as mentioned the parts where it leans into repetition for humor largely came across as obnoxious. Still, it got me often enough that I feel more positive toward it than not and I would be interested in reading more of this series. To my son, I mean. For his benefit.
I liked that the characters knew and commented on the fact that they were in a story. I liked the AIRPLANE-style humor, as when Stinkbomb drew himself up in bed and then, afterward, put down his crayons and sat up in bed. (Ehh? Ehh? Get it?) Although it relied on repetition, I liked a bit where Ketchup-Face sings an interminable song and then fixes her audience with a hard glare after each verse to prevent them from complaining… it is not that scene that I liked, though, but one after that when Stinkbomb and Ketchup-Face are running away from pursuers but encounter a broken elevator. Luckily, Ketchup-Face “fixed it with a hard glare”.
There’s a scene where Stinkbomb pulls a bunch of stuff out of his pocket, including a sports car. The world of the book is wonderfully weird and runs on Looney Tunes logic. I like that about it. After reading it to my 4.5-year-old at bedtime, I would leave his bedroom eager to share some of the funniest or cleverest lines with my wife.
I’m not sure the story is very memorable overall, though, and as mentioned the parts where it leans into repetition for humor largely came across as obnoxious. Still, it got me often enough that I feel more positive toward it than not and I would be interested in reading more of this series. To my son, I mean. For his benefit.
Read
April 14, 20237 year old: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
4 year old: ⭐️
Me: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ funny moments, but kind of a pointless plot
4 year old: ⭐️
Me: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ funny moments, but kind of a pointless plot
February 13, 2021
I liked their adventure through the book, it was funny how the characters talked about being in the story, I liked this book.
November 27, 2019
Very cute silly book where the characters are very cognizant of the fact that they are in a book.
Ketchup-Face (a gril) wakes up and throws a shoe at a blackbird singing out her window. She then goes to wake her brother. Her Brother, Stinkbomb, sees that his piggy bank is open and notices that 20 bucks are gone and decides it must have been the badgers who did it, since they are bad as if they were good they would just be called "gers".
They go off to see the king and on the way Ketchup-Face sings a very repeative song about Blueberry Jam. Stinkbomb suggests that she should add other times of Jam in the future. (She is also hopping on one foot since she threw her other shoe at the blackbird.).
The next chapter (titled Chapter 3 in which we learn a little history) gives us the history of Loose Pebbles which is the capital of Great Kerfuffle which is were the kids and king live. That during the War of the Roses King Richard III was fighting King Henry VII but King Isabel the confused kept showing up and trying to join the battles, but instead makes it impossible for the other kings to fight. They end up geting him the southwestern tip of England and then in the middle of the night they cut it off from the mainland and it floats away. And the great, great, great (so on) grandson of King Isabel is the current King who was King Sandra but he worried that was a silly name so he had his subjects rename him and they picked King Toothrush Weasel.
The kids arrive at the castle and meet the army (Malcolm the cat) who keeps playing on whether or not he will let them knock on the door. Finally Stinkbomb gets so frustrated he slaps Malcolm the Cat with a fish from his pocket.
A man wearing a bathrobe and a badge with the word Butler opens the door and lets them in. He leads the kids inside and then walks in place trying to make the palace much bigger than it is. Finally he sits in a chair labeled throne puts on a small crown and a badge that says king but when the kids remind him he is in a book he rushes up stairs to change out of his bathrobe and put on real clothes. After he is properly dressed he says there can't be a problem with badgers since he banned them all, but it is realized as he describes what he banned that what he really banned was rhinoceroses. So the king sends the kids out in search of the badgers. Stinkbomb is not sure how they will find them. Ketchup Face says they will get help, but Stinkbomb says that only happens in books, but Ketchup Face reminds him they are in a book.
Malcolm the cat pretends to have his cat stuck in the grass so he kind of, but maybe not, give them Ketchup Face's other shoe, which she wears around her neck instead of putting on. Next they save a shopping cart who offers to take them to the Badgers. Ketchup face says the cart is her noble stead starlight, while stinkbomb sits in the back and tries to catch bugs in his mouth. They arrive at the badger's woods and the kids are amazed since it appears to be invisible but then the cart says they are just facing the wrong way.
The kids go into the woods and meet a funny little man (who is actually a badger) and they tell him that they know about the bad things badgers do and are going to get rid of them. The "funny little man" gets more "funny little men" but eventually the kids finally realize that these are a badger especially when they do what all badgers do which is to scare chickens, knock over trash cans and drive sports cars too fast.
The kids insist that the badgers don't start chasing them until Ketchup face gets her other shoe on. They say they also need a lead, but eventually they badgers remember they are the bad guys and the kids are captured by the badgers and are going to be mailed off to the mountain kingdom of Bajerstan to paint stripes on second hand tigers. But Ketchup Face asks to sing her song first and they let her and she adds all sorts of jams to until she is on verse 4,779 and all the other badgers have left with only Stewart watching them but then he leaves to go to the bathroom. Ketchup Face wants to continue to sing, but Stinkbomb convinces her to go by saying their parents will listen after the story is over. (Their parents stay out of the story since stories are better without parents.) However as they are escaping, they run into all the badgers. The King, shopping car, the Army (the cat), and a chicken arrive to save them. But in the end when the badgers realize that the army is just a cat they are packed in a box and mailed off to paint stripes. While in the box they play I spy but that is boring since they all say something that starts with "D" which stands for dark.
They get out of the box because Stinkbomb uses his new pocketknife and when Ketchup Face asks where he got he says that he saved up $20 bucks to buy it at which point he realizes that the badgers didn't steal the money and Ketchup Face is so upset she jumps up and down on his foot. When they finally get out of the box they find they are behind the kids house and Stinkbomb remembers that during Ketchup Face's long song he changed the address on the package
While the badgers didn't steal the money they did do many other bad things including planning to overthrow the king so the kids come up with a plan. . They trick the badgers by setting up trashcans through out Loose Pebbles and when the head badger agrees they can knock one down they pick the biggest garbage can which actually is just a trap that get the badgers thrown into jail. Malcolm the cat proceeds to tease them that he will let them go, oh maybe not. It ends with them celebrating in the Loose Pebble's cafe and their parent's asking if the story is finished yet.
The book then gives us the music for blueberry jam in case anyone wants to sing ketchupface's hit and there is a preview of the next book: Stinkbomb and Ketchup-Face and the Quest for the Magic Porcupine. It starts with a storm that is raging but then the story realizes it started to early so it starts again with the storm raging and the badgers playing monopoly in jail when they use a get out of jail card on a passing citizen. They also take his umbrella and they all create a tower underneath it. Meanwhile Ketchup face is snoring and a blackbird throws a trumpet at her. She sees something that fills her with horror. She rushes to her brother to wake him they overslept and it is almost chapter 3.
Ketchup-Face (a gril) wakes up and throws a shoe at a blackbird singing out her window. She then goes to wake her brother. Her Brother, Stinkbomb, sees that his piggy bank is open and notices that 20 bucks are gone and decides it must have been the badgers who did it, since they are bad as if they were good they would just be called "gers".
They go off to see the king and on the way Ketchup-Face sings a very repeative song about Blueberry Jam. Stinkbomb suggests that she should add other times of Jam in the future. (She is also hopping on one foot since she threw her other shoe at the blackbird.).
The next chapter (titled Chapter 3 in which we learn a little history) gives us the history of Loose Pebbles which is the capital of Great Kerfuffle which is were the kids and king live. That during the War of the Roses King Richard III was fighting King Henry VII but King Isabel the confused kept showing up and trying to join the battles, but instead makes it impossible for the other kings to fight. They end up geting him the southwestern tip of England and then in the middle of the night they cut it off from the mainland and it floats away. And the great, great, great (so on) grandson of King Isabel is the current King who was King Sandra but he worried that was a silly name so he had his subjects rename him and they picked King Toothrush Weasel.
The kids arrive at the castle and meet the army (Malcolm the cat) who keeps playing on whether or not he will let them knock on the door. Finally Stinkbomb gets so frustrated he slaps Malcolm the Cat with a fish from his pocket.
A man wearing a bathrobe and a badge with the word Butler opens the door and lets them in. He leads the kids inside and then walks in place trying to make the palace much bigger than it is. Finally he sits in a chair labeled throne puts on a small crown and a badge that says king but when the kids remind him he is in a book he rushes up stairs to change out of his bathrobe and put on real clothes. After he is properly dressed he says there can't be a problem with badgers since he banned them all, but it is realized as he describes what he banned that what he really banned was rhinoceroses. So the king sends the kids out in search of the badgers. Stinkbomb is not sure how they will find them. Ketchup Face says they will get help, but Stinkbomb says that only happens in books, but Ketchup Face reminds him they are in a book.
Malcolm the cat pretends to have his cat stuck in the grass so he kind of, but maybe not, give them Ketchup Face's other shoe, which she wears around her neck instead of putting on. Next they save a shopping cart who offers to take them to the Badgers. Ketchup face says the cart is her noble stead starlight, while stinkbomb sits in the back and tries to catch bugs in his mouth. They arrive at the badger's woods and the kids are amazed since it appears to be invisible but then the cart says they are just facing the wrong way.
The kids go into the woods and meet a funny little man (who is actually a badger) and they tell him that they know about the bad things badgers do and are going to get rid of them. The "funny little man" gets more "funny little men" but eventually the kids finally realize that these are a badger especially when they do what all badgers do which is to scare chickens, knock over trash cans and drive sports cars too fast.
The kids insist that the badgers don't start chasing them until Ketchup face gets her other shoe on. They say they also need a lead, but eventually they badgers remember they are the bad guys and the kids are captured by the badgers and are going to be mailed off to the mountain kingdom of Bajerstan to paint stripes on second hand tigers. But Ketchup Face asks to sing her song first and they let her and she adds all sorts of jams to until she is on verse 4,779 and all the other badgers have left with only Stewart watching them but then he leaves to go to the bathroom. Ketchup Face wants to continue to sing, but Stinkbomb convinces her to go by saying their parents will listen after the story is over. (Their parents stay out of the story since stories are better without parents.) However as they are escaping, they run into all the badgers. The King, shopping car, the Army (the cat), and a chicken arrive to save them. But in the end when the badgers realize that the army is just a cat they are packed in a box and mailed off to paint stripes. While in the box they play I spy but that is boring since they all say something that starts with "D" which stands for dark.
They get out of the box because Stinkbomb uses his new pocketknife and when Ketchup Face asks where he got he says that he saved up $20 bucks to buy it at which point he realizes that the badgers didn't steal the money and Ketchup Face is so upset she jumps up and down on his foot. When they finally get out of the box they find they are behind the kids house and Stinkbomb remembers that during Ketchup Face's long song he changed the address on the package
While the badgers didn't steal the money they did do many other bad things including planning to overthrow the king so the kids come up with a plan. . They trick the badgers by setting up trashcans through out Loose Pebbles and when the head badger agrees they can knock one down they pick the biggest garbage can which actually is just a trap that get the badgers thrown into jail. Malcolm the cat proceeds to tease them that he will let them go, oh maybe not. It ends with them celebrating in the Loose Pebble's cafe and their parent's asking if the story is finished yet.
The book then gives us the music for blueberry jam in case anyone wants to sing ketchupface's hit and there is a preview of the next book: Stinkbomb and Ketchup-Face and the Quest for the Magic Porcupine. It starts with a storm that is raging but then the story realizes it started to early so it starts again with the storm raging and the badgers playing monopoly in jail when they use a get out of jail card on a passing citizen. They also take his umbrella and they all create a tower underneath it. Meanwhile Ketchup face is snoring and a blackbird throws a trumpet at her. She sees something that fills her with horror. She rushes to her brother to wake him they overslept and it is almost chapter 3.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 23, 2013
Stinkbomb and Ketchup-Face live on the peaceful little island of Great Kerfuffle. One day Stinkbomb notices that a tenner has gone missing from his piggy bank. "The badgers have taken your tenner. What are we going to do about it?"
And so the tale begins as brother and sister Stinkbomb and Ketchup-Face try to find the badgers and bring them to justice, along the way meeting the King ("I'll just have to send someone on a mission to drive all badgers from the kingdom. You'll do") and several other characters, including a talking shopping trolley that they rescued from a stream.
The book is being pitched as for fans of the Mr Gum books, and I'd go along with that. It has the same silly, surreal nature, plus it also makes use of repetition, recognition humour. My 7-year-old daughter said it was really funny and deserving of a 5-star rating.
Her favourite character was Malcolm the cat who would always change his mind then change it back before changing it again to his original line of thought before changing it back again etc. She also liked the bit where one chapter ended in the middle of a sentence because "a chapter can finish wherever they like."
Of course a review can't do
And so the tale begins as brother and sister Stinkbomb and Ketchup-Face try to find the badgers and bring them to justice, along the way meeting the King ("I'll just have to send someone on a mission to drive all badgers from the kingdom. You'll do") and several other characters, including a talking shopping trolley that they rescued from a stream.
The book is being pitched as for fans of the Mr Gum books, and I'd go along with that. It has the same silly, surreal nature, plus it also makes use of repetition, recognition humour. My 7-year-old daughter said it was really funny and deserving of a 5-star rating.
Her favourite character was Malcolm the cat who would always change his mind then change it back before changing it again to his original line of thought before changing it back again etc. She also liked the bit where one chapter ended in the middle of a sentence because "a chapter can finish wherever they like."
Of course a review can't do
March 14, 2017
For fans of Captain Underpants and Geronimo Stilton, this goofy book has lots of adventures and silly puns reminiscent of Amelia Bedelia. The characters are aware that they are in a story, and occasionally comment on it: like, when the king realizes they are in a story he immediately goes and puts on his clothes.
December 31, 2017
Monty python for the elementary folk. Wonderful and absurd.
February 3, 2018
This is a rollicking British fantasy about a brother and little sister team. Stinkbomb and sister Ketchup-Face live on the tiny island of Great Kerfuffle, ruled by a king in a small castle. When the two awake, they make a disturbing discovery, Stinkbomb's piggy bank is open and his money is gone! Immediately (with very little evidence) Stinkbomb predicts the BADgers took it. Although Ketchup-Face isn't sure what badgers are, she is eager to begin a quest with her brother. This tale has a talking shopping cart, questionable snarky badgers, and a king who plays many roles. Laced with wonderfully whimsical illustrations throughout, and lots of differing font in expressive sizes and formats, this interactive book pulls the reader right in, as the narrator addresses them," In most stories, you'd expect their journey to take a long time....Fortunately for Stinkbomb and Ketchup-Face the nearest king lived only a half a mile away." This tale is full of surprising twists and turns, completely unpredictable and outrageous, yet so much fun. Kids with great imaginations will gobble this up and ask for more.
May 19, 2025
Stinkbomb is sure that the badgers of Great Kerfuffle stole his money, so he and his sister Ketchup-Face seek the aid of King Toothbrush Weasel - who in turn tasks them with stopping the badgers and their bad ways, even if it means traversing a dark forest and riding a talking shopping cart to do so! Dougherty and Ricks bring children a decently paced story with fun illustrations and bonkers energy, though its humour is sadly lackluster and dragged out for an overall forgettable experience. How can two kids hope to stop so many evil badgers?!
February 26, 2018
Great Kerfuffle is really great. And there's usually a kerfuffle (the clue's in the name really). This particular kerfuffle started the day Stinkbomb's twenty dollar bill went missing. Stinkbomb and his little sister Ketchup-Face know exactly who took it: the badgers. After all, they're called bad gers because they do bad things; otherwise they'd just be gers (from the publisher) . Humorous read great for fans of "Regarding the Milk".
January 21, 2019
Luin ensimmäiset 80 sivua miehelle ääneen (ihan supernopeasti, koska ei tätä olisi muuten kestänyt) ja mieheni totesi seuraavaa: "Tämä kirja ei olisi huono jos se olisi hyvä." Juuri niin! Tämä olisi voinut olla oikeasti tosi hyvä! En tajua miksi sekaan oli jätetty niin paljon huonoa läppää...
Minulla oli kiusaus antaa 2 tähteä, mutta kyllä tämä kuitenkin huvitti 3 tähden edestä. Esim:
"Hei, kultaseni!"
äidin ääni kuului ulkoa.
"Voimmeko tulla sisään? Onko kertomus jo loppunut?"
(s. 179)
Minulla oli kiusaus antaa 2 tähteä, mutta kyllä tämä kuitenkin huvitti 3 tähden edestä. Esim:
"Hei, kultaseni!"
äidin ääni kuului ulkoa.
"Voimmeko tulla sisään? Onko kertomus jo loppunut?"
(s. 179)
May 6, 2018
This is a really clever book. As I read it I could imagine the kids in my library loving it. Interstingly enough, I did read it to them and some really got it, others did not. It is a higher level thinking book, and has craziness throughout. I do think many kids will like and appreciate it, even if not all mine did.
June 29, 2018
Great easy reader especially for 7-8 year olds who are just beginning to love reading because Mom finds funny books so they will like reading. Great read aloud too because you will also laugh and immediately check the library to see if they have any more because your 8 year old needs more books like this to help him love reading.
January 29, 2025
7/8P Phonics
Skye- It was a real funny book and it definitely needs a sequel because I kind of love it!
Alex- I liked the singing part!
Riley- I like how the King was goofy and he tried to get the land even though he wasn't good.
Leo- I liked how they said that they are in a story.
Max- It was not a fun book.
Miss Morris- I really liked this book, it was very funny!
Skye- It was a real funny book and it definitely needs a sequel because I kind of love it!
Alex- I liked the singing part!
Riley- I like how the King was goofy and he tried to get the land even though he wasn't good.
Leo- I liked how they said that they are in a story.
Max- It was not a fun book.
Miss Morris- I really liked this book, it was very funny!
November 23, 2017
Hilarious slapstick and silliness, with plenty of tremendous wordplay and fourth-wall breaking in a light fantasy world. For adults who want to share their love of Monty Python humor with their kids, this would be a fun read-aloud.
June 14, 2018
Very wacky humor that pokes fun at how stories are typically told. Kids that enjoy extreme silliness will like this book, but I wonder how much of the humor regarding story construction will be understood by a younger reader. Definitely entertaining though.
September 27, 2018
This is the first chapter book the 6 year-old in my life has really liked. It’s silly and non-sensical, which apparently is fun for him. I didn’t care for it, so I’m giving an average of our stars as the official household rating:)
January 30, 2019
Päätöntä menoa, väärinymmärryksiä ja loputonta verbaalikikkailua. Sekopäinen tarina höystettynä ilmeikkäällä kuvituksella. Kelpaa vinkata tokaluokasta ylöspäin, vois mennä vielä heikommin lukeville vitosillekin.
March 14, 2020
Tällä oli hauskatkin hetkensä, mutta suurinosa huumorista oli väkisin kyhättyä ja jopa tuskastuttavaa, kuten Malcolm Kissan tapa jahkailuun. Lapsia huumori nauratti enemmän kuin minua, mutta arvosanaksi hekin antoivat vain ihan ok. Aineksia olisi ollut parempaan tarinaan.
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March 28, 2022its a great book.so funny!*****.
reccomended for 8+
warning : spoilers ahead
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this book is about 2 boys who set off to find the badgers who are destroying the town.
reccomended for 8+
warning : spoilers ahead
_____________________________________________________________
this book is about 2 boys who set off to find the badgers who are destroying the town.
December 18, 2022
Very silly and more immature humor than I was expecting. Had an annoying repetitive song about jam throughout. I thought it would be cuter than it actually was. I wouldn’t want to read any more in this series.
March 21, 2025
As you might guess from the title, this book is very ridiculous! Usually this isn't my cup of tea, but I can see how the kiddos would love this one. If your kiddo enjoys "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," they will like this one.
Found in L4M YT Volume 5.
Found in L4M YT Volume 5.
February 17, 2017
A goofy, silly book that will probably cause some laughing out loud moments. I can see this being a great read aloud.
May 4, 2017
Cute book for the kid that likes a sillier story.
November 28, 2017
Funny/ ridiculous story about the adventures of Stinkbomb and Ketchup Face. Could be good readaloud. Gr. 1-2
December 29, 2017
british, strange, funny
good for a goofy kid
good for a goofy kid
December 30, 2017
Funny, but not my thing.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews