Uncle Gobb and the Plot Plot

by Michael Rosen, Neal Layton (Illustrator)

The third uproarious adventure from the comic pairing of Michael Rosen and Neal Layton sees Malcolm and his awful Uncle Gobb return, each with a cunning plot ... This time, there is a plot. That's the plot of the story. Or is it? The plot of the story could also be that Uncle Gobb has an evil plot. And his plot is about a plot. A plot of land. Are you following? Good! The plot of land is behind Malcolm's school and it is where Uncle Gobb wants to set up his own rival Dread Shed School of Facts. Oh no! Malcolm is going to need to come up with his own plot to stop Uncle Gobb's plot. So maybe that, in fact, is the actual plot of this story. You'll just have to read this book to find out! A bonkers book about standing up for yourself, from two crazily creative people. Sure to delight fans of Andy Stanton and Tom Gate s.

208 pages, Paperback

Published September 5, 2019

About the author

Michael Rosen, a recent British Children’s Laureate, has written many acclaimed books for children, including WE'RE GOING ON A BEAR HUNT, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, and I’M NUMBER ONE and THIS IS OUR HOUSE, both illustrated by Bob Graham. Michael Rosen lives in London.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Owen Townend]

I'm afraid the giggles Uncle Gobb and the Dread Shed once brought out in me have all but disappeared. Uncle Gobb and the Plot Plot tries very hard with its silly humour but never quite strikes the right note with me. Then again such comedy is mercurial at the best of times.

As for the plot of the Plot Plot, I like how it educates young minds about land rights and the stubbornly prescriptive side of school but, like with The Green Heads, there isn't as much going on in this third sequel that I believe kids would find outstandingly fun. The weasels are a bit of a tired gag though I did enjoy the true origin of 'Worst Case Scenario'. The wordplay kept me going throughout the tedious moments and I still love Uncle Gobb's feeble argument ender 'I've been to China!' and how it's called out by a Mr Yang in the book.

Please don't get me wrong, I love the writing of Michael Rosen and of course these books aren't written with a boring old grown-up like me in mind. It's just my inner-child struggled with reading this one and usually he knows best. Nevertheless I recommend Uncle Gobb and the Plot Plot to devoted readers of Michael Rosen and those who still enjoy watching a crotchety old fool be thwarted by clever kids.

[Evan]

It would have been 3 stars unless for the funny bit at the end