Thud!

by Nick Butterworth

A hilarious picture book from Nick Butterworth, the highly-regarded, prize-winning, creator of Percy the Park Keeper.

In a fantastical land where even warthogs are beautiful, the peace is shattered one day by the deafening thud of something very large nearby. Is it a monster? None of the animals feels brave enough to find out, but they know of an ‘Ugly Beast’ who might be able to help. And when they find him, the animals are in for a truly monstrous surprise.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals

48 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2008

About the author

Nick Butterworth was born in London and grew up in a sweet shop in Essex. He worked for various major graphic design companies before becoming a full-time author and illustrator. Among his picture books are Thud!, QPootle5, Jingle Bells, Albert le Blanc, Tiger and The Whisperer, winner of the Nestlé Gold Award. But he is best known for his stories about Percy the Park Keeper, which have sold more than 9 million copies worldwide. Percy has also appeared in his own television series.

Reviews

[Mathew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm used to Butterworth doing 'cosy and warm' so this story about a group of animals that want rid of a huge monster from their land was more akin to the cumulative fun of Inkpen's excellent Lullabyhullaballoo. Out story begins with the smallest of our companions, a bushbaby who cannot sleep for the thudding presence of a large, unknown creature. He goes from creature to creature to ask for help in evicting the noisome intruder and together they all agree to do something about it.
With a sweet ending and some of Butterworth's best illustrations of animals and landscape, here is a story that tells us to not judge others by outward appearances or stereotype. A great message for this day and age. My only gripe would be that this is more illustrated text than picturebook with the images and words often doing the same thing.

[Nick Swarbrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

With the rhythms of a folk tale, Nick Butterworth deftly explores how we (in the person of a range of animals) define otherness and being a monster. Beautiful colours and the typical borderlands between animal and human facial expressions - and, beyond simple cuteness, a message about how we understand and relate to one another.

[Abbie Stagg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basil the bush baby is disturbed at night by a monster, thudding his way through the forest. So he asks different animals one at a time to help him scare it away. It isn’t till the end of the book when he realises that it’s no good having just one animal, but would be more effective if everyone went and scared the monster away. Therefore, this shows children a crucial skill of teamwork, and how if we all work together there can a better outcome!

[Lisa Bland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before opening the book I thought it had great illustrations both on the front and back cover. The back cover has a small rhyming sentence which indicates that the story is going to be about something big and scary... "It must be big! The ground was shaking... It must be huge! The earth is quaking... Who will be brave enough to drive it away?" This straight away raises a level of excitement and curiosity for the reader, making us want to read on.

The story itself shows how different animals of all shapes and sizes can live together in harmony. From a lion and crocodile to birds and a antelope, the story shows how these animals can get along. The animals help each other to find the monster who is making 'thud' sounds and intruding their home. They stick together to find that the monster is not so scary and horrible after all. They ask the monster to stay as they realise she is no harm.

This story has a underlying meaning as it shows the reader that although something may appear scary or horrible it does not necessarily mean this is true.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thud relies on repetition and numerous cute animals to tell its story of cooperation, bravery and tolerance. Basil, the littlest animal of the forest goes on a quest to find out who the monster is and how he can be stopped. In the process he joins up with all the other animals of the forest, all of whom are afraid of the monster. Together though they feel brave enough to confront the monster.

Thud though isn't a simple monster story because the monster, while big and ugly for being so different is not mean and certainly not a monster after all. I won't spoil the ending though. Go read the book and find out!

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the animals in this beautifully created imaginary land are afraid of the loud noises they hear, probably that of a monster. They had seen an ugly beast earlier and hoped it would help them to chase away the monster. What they discover is very surprising to them and they realize they shouldn’t have gone by only what they saw. Gorgeous illustrations for this exciting and fun-to-read story.

[Connie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a story about a group of animals who rope the Ugly Beast into helping them scare away a monster. Luckily, the monster is no monster at all, but Raymond - I mean, the Ugly Beast's mother.

It's cute and all, but it just doesn't interest us that much. YMMV.

[Katy Larkman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great story with peril appropriate to 3-6 year olds & plenty of excitement & (animal) characters. My children enjoyed the richness of the pictures too. (Shame that Piers is a warthog though - I think Piers is a beautiful name!)

[Jess Hudson · Rating 1 out of 5]

seriosly!!??