Measle and the Wrathmonk

Measle Stubbs Adventures #1

by Ian Oglivy

Measle Stubbs lives in a dreary, horrible house, with Basil Tramplebone, his dreary, horrible guardian. His like is miserable and suddenly gets worse when Measle finds himself on the wrong end of one of Basil's evil spells.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Childrens, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Adventure, Juvenile

210 pages, Paperback

First published June 3, 2004

Reviews

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read all the Measle books as a child and I'd recommend them a million times over. Beautifully written with plenty unexpected twisted and great humour, your child won't be able to put these books down. Buying them again for my little niece and I suggest you buy them, too!

[lila wijaya]

I saw this book during a book thrift, and I was taken back :)) I remember reading this when I was younger and having a dream that I got shrunk down to the size of a toy set. Then, I had to stuff carrots up people's noses. Why I still remember this dream (more like a nightmare lol) who knows?

[Gabcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lichotka czytałam maniakalnie w podstawówce, średnio co miesiąc wypożyczając wszystkie części i czytając je w jeden dzień. Potem była długa długa przerwa, ja o Lichotku zapomniałam, a potem zobaczyłam go w bibliotece. No i musiałam go przecież wziąć.

Może Lichotek obiektywnie nie zasługuje na 5 gwiazdek, ale subiektywnie go kocham, cały pomysł na fabułę, całą tą potworność w dziecięcej książeczce i całe trochę brutalne zakończenie. No i samego Lichotka, bo to przecież świetny dzieciak (damn, jak on tyle lat przeżył bez traumy i bez jakiś zaburzeń zachowania i tworzenia relacji, to mnie ciągle zastanawia XD).

[Noa Seidmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

מיסל גר עם האפוטרופוס שלו, בזיל, ולא ממש כיף לו. הבית שלהם מתפרק ולבזיל לא אכפת. חייו של מיסל משתנים כשהוא מגלה שבזיל מסוגל להטיל כישופים. ספר הרפתקאות מוצלח לילדים

[Vinci2610 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sehr schön! Dass kann auch daran liegen dass ich selber eine Modellbahn habe 😁

[Siona Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this once when I was in the fifth grade and I’ve always remembered liking it. For a long time I wanted to continue with the series, but they’re so hard to find that I’m not really as interested in them anymore. Still, I do really enjoy this book and think it’s a great book for 4th-7th graders to read. It’s definitely an easy book to read for an adult, but it’s still fun and interesting.

[Jessica Van Tassell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting concept, but also...a little odd. I may read the second book to give it another chance.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun book.

[Sylwia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good story!

[Aneta · Rating 4 out of 5]

No strasznie fajna ! :)

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Measle and the Wrathmonk by Ian Ogilvy was an awesome book. It had alot of adventure, and also had alot of interesting characters.

The storyline of this book was kind of confusing. This is because it was a kind of strange storyline that took a while to comprehend. I had to read the book twice to fully understand it, but after that, it was pretty fun.

I really liked the ending of this book when Measle's parents were the people that were turned to stone by Basil and placed in the town square of the train set. I thought that Measle would hug and kiss his parents alot when he saw them, but I was pretty surprised when Measle just hugged them once and was pretty quiet around them.

I liked how the author said that Wrathmonks liked to mess with words, so Measle's real name: "Sam-Lee" was changed to "Measle" after Basil messed with the letters.

I thought that it was pretty convenient when Measle just happened to grab the carrots out of the refrigerator before he played with Basil's train set. If he didn't do that, this story would have never happened and Measle would have probably not have put an end to Basil.

I thought that the author of this story was a really good author because when the people in the train set had an idea to reflect Basil's spell with the glass lake, he didn't stop there. He made Basil be leaning over the table when he cast the spell, so when the spell to turn Measle into a cockroach reflected back on him, Basil was a cockroach on the table. I was really glad the author did this because I really wanted to read more and not just end there.

I think that the way that Basil dies is a pretty ironic ending because he gets hit by his own train when he was a cockroach. Measle was really smart to think of that. I was really surprised when the people in the train set that Measle rescued didn't all agree to let Measle kill Basil with the train. I was even more surprised when Lady Grant made up something about her foot being caught in the steel box so that Measle could sneak out without anybody seeing him.

I recommend this book to anybody that likes adventurous stories with magic and mayhem.

[*Kayla*]

It all started at the scarey black house outside of town. Where there's a dark rain cloud constantly over the house. Everything is scarey about the house. There are cocroaches all over the inside.
The describition of measle is very realistic with his hair. He waits for his Gurdian, Basil to leave. And goes up stairs to play with his train set. Basil finds out.




There's a kid named Measle,
and he lives with his legal gurdian, Basil.
The whole house is black, and there's always a rain cloud over the house. Basil is scarey and yells at Measle for everything.
Basil always dresses in black, and all you can see is his face and hands. Basil always plays with a toy train that he bought with Measil's money. Measle's never gotten to play with the train before.

[Sharono Crockett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plenty of action to keep the interest for the most reluctant readers but still smart and twisted enough for sophisticated kids. Frightening premise : Basil Tramplebone (Wrathmonk = evil, insane wizard) is the guardian of a child, Measle, who has to figure out how to survive under his twisted "care", and, many times, how to escape his wrath. I'd recommend for 4th - 6th grade, but it depends on the kid.

[Dacko]

Sin je već treći put čita, odlična za klince od desetak godina: uzbudljiva, maličak strašna, duhovita i brza, ali lepo zaokružena priča. A tu je i divan opis makete železnice koju ima negativac za koga nema sumnje da je sav negativan, iako mu se kućni ljubimac zove Maza, što i jeste sasvim zgodno ime za šišmiša.

[Lara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hat mir nicht mehr sooo gut gefallen, wie als Kind. Aber das ist natürlich die Gefahr, wenn man Kinderbücher rereadet. Mag aber das Rating nicht umstellen, weil ich es als Kind geliebt habe.

[Nikky3 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book be adorbs yo. I kinda wierdly want this book to be a movie and I wan Emma Watson to play Lady Grant. That is all.

[Andrew ✝️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a book i picked up in a thrift store (the second time I read it, I ordered it because I couldn't locate my original copy). The first of, I believe, 4 or 5. Very hard to get your hands on these babies, I reckon, because I've read things online where fans are disheartened that they can only find the first three books in Australia. Ian Ogilvy, I have found was an actor in the late 60s to late 70s and starred in several movies before deciding to become an author. He still acts. He appeared in "My Life In Ruins" starring Nia Vardalos as was credited as Ian Raymond in 2009.

By the cover, I'm sure you can surmise that this is not even close to Teen Fiction. It's considered a Children's book, but I read the cover and thought it was a cute story line.

Measle is a 10 year old boy who unfortunately lives with this very pale, very frightening guardian, in the only inhabited house on his street. I don't recall a mention of him attending school, so I reckon his guardian managed to register him as home schooled or just failed to notify the school district of his existence.

Over the course of a couple weeks, His guardian decides to let him into the attic. The only room of the house he could rarely see, and to his astonishment, Basil (The guardian's name) had constructed a little town surrounding a train set. Unfortunately, with Measle's family inheritance, but the Judge deemed he was too young to have that kind of money, and entrusted it to his Guardian until which time Measle would reach the age of 18.

After sending Basil on a fool's errand to the bank, after referring to a phone call that never took place regarding some new money, Measle sneaks upstairs to play with the train set. Basil comes home after realizing that it is Sunday, which means the banks are closed, and catches him playing with the train set. His punishment? Since he played WITH the train set, he must now play IN the train set, after Basil shrinks him down to the size of a matchbox car, well, obviously smaller since the matchbox car would have to be taller than him, since he's a 10 year old lad.

Saying anymore would be giving away 'spoilers,' so i'll just say, Measle encounters dilemma's, odd occurrences, unbelievable fantasy-turning-out-to-be reality and must find a way to defeat his guardian. It was a cute read, and now, eight years after I read the first one, I have the second and third books waiting to be read.

[Nitzhia Peleg · Rating 4 out of 5]

ביקורת ספרותית על מיסל והנחשוף מאת איאן אוגילבי
ספר טוב דירוג של ארבעה כוכביםהביקורת נכתבה ביום שבת, 29 באוגוסט, 2020
ע"י נצחיה

אומללות מנצחת.
אני חושבת שכתבתי על זה פעם, לכו תזכרו באיזה ספר, כי יש כל כך הרבה ספרים עם המתכונת הקבועה הזאת: ילד בן שתים עשרה, יתום, מוזנח, עם קרובי משפחה מרושעים ומתעללים, גר בתנאים גרועים, מלוכלך ורעב ונורא מסכן באופן כללי. ממתילדה עד הארי פוטר, מאוליבר טוויסט ועד אן שרלי, האומללות פשוט מנצחת. אולי כי ילדים בגיל הזה מאוד מזדהים עם תחושת הילד הכי מסכן בעולם שמגלה שההורים שלו הם בכלל חורגים.

אז גם מיסל מסכן. מאוד. ההורים שלו מתו, או זה לפחות מה שמספר לו הדוד שלו. הם גרים יחד בבית מט לנפול, בלי תנאי אוכל וניקיון ראויים, ועם הרבה אומללות. ואם הוא חושב שיותר גרוע מזה לא יכול להיות, הוא פתאום מגלה שדווקא כן. קצת קשה לתאר יותר מזה בלי להיכנס לקלקלני עלילה. אומר רק שההמשך הולך גם הוא על מתכון שעובד יפה בספרי ילדים ונוער צעיר, אם כי השילוב בין שני המתכונים יוצר תוצאה מרעננת ומעניינת.

כך או כך, הספר חמוד ביותר. מתאים לבני ובנות עשר ומעלה, מהסוג שלא נרתע מתופעות אל טבעיות בספרים. לי היה כיפי ממש.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixture of "A Series of Unfortunate Events" and "Coraline" with a very Roald Dahl -ish touch to it.

This fast paced story was really whimsical and cute with exactly the right amount of adventure and the characters were fun but a bit shallow with not a lot of depth to them. Overall a great children's book which I would recommend to all readers between 8 and 12. Yet, not the all-age-fiction I was hoping it would be. I definitely enjoyed reading it but wont continue with the sequels. Maybe I'll give this one to my eleven year old niece. She'll probably love it!

It's always hard to rate a children's book when reading it as an adult and not knowing what to expect. I was looking for a Harry Potter substitute which appeals to both children and adults but sadly only got a children's book. So I'd say 3,5⭐ from an adult reader's perspective.

[Aydia MacGuire · Rating 5 out of 5]

bro this book is wild

I kept asking myself: “how is this a kids book??” not that it’s bad or inappropriate or anything, but it’s just so… strange. I guess that’s appealing to children.

It’s definitely quite a weird book, but I had fun reading it. Besides the premise obviously being totally improbable, I feel like their actions were quite strange too. I did like them digging down into the ground, but climbing the cable was an interesting writing choice. It almost seems to me that the author ran out of space. Trapped them in this place with no way to get out except something like that.

Measle was apparently quite a smart kid. He came up with the way to free them all from the mess they were in. I was about to say that this smartness is inconsistent, but it’s actually not! He’s pretty smart through the beginning of the book as well! Hat’s off to this book having no plot holes!

[Virginia Vanicek · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last time I read this book, was in my 5th grade class and my teacher read it to us. This book is easily a staple of my childhood reading, so I decided to read it again. A very easy read, it was thorough and engaging. It was so impressionable as a child that there was little that I couldn't remember or put a very strong guess to. This book reaches disturbing without becoming horror or creating nightmares for kids. I HIGHLY recommend, even though it is older, it was just as enjoyable as the last time I read it.

[Candice Lamb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel is written by the actor who used to play the “The Saint” and is fab for boys 7+
Measle is a weedy orphan living with his hideous guardian ‘Basil’ who makes his life a misery,
One day a angry ‘Basil’ places a evil spell on Measle shrinking him to a few centimetres tall, forcing him to live out his days in the toy trainset.
Can Measle prove himself a hero and save the day ??

[Stephan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lite Roald Dahl tror jag nog. Jo, visst påminde den en smula om Häxorna ändå?
Oavsett var det en bra blandning av både rysligheter och humor, en hel del spänning dessutom. Det är synd att omslaget inte känns särskilt lockande, för berättelsen kan säkert locka många.

[eddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

i'm re(rerererererere...)reading my all-time favourite book series from my childhood and wow it holds up

if anyone else had heard of these books that'd be fab

perfect for [20 year olds] er i mean kids

[Anastasija · Rating 4 out of 5]

Likovi su zaista bili zanimljivi - knjiga ima neka od najlepših prijateljstava na koje sam naišla u dečjim knjigama. Čmičak i Zvrk osvojili su moje srce! Radnja je bila interesantna, doduše, kraj mi se nije dopao zbog otkrivanja toliko informacija u poslednjih 10 strana.

[Jane Azinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my elementary teachers read this to my class and I can say without a doubt, it changed me. Even at 26, I estimate that I have thought about this book at least once a month since it was first read to me (and that is being conservative).
It was a delight to reread! Blast from the past (:

[Ronnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the idea and was hooked throughout, I actually got quite scared at one point! I loved this book but I can’t seem to find the next one :(

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

First read aloud of the summer. Such a fun, engaging book. My kids loved it. I read it aloud to my sixth graders every year too, so I know it’s a crowd pleaser. Highly recommend.

[Ophelia Greenfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

best book of all time

[Lightwhisper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Um livro infanto-juvenil aventureiro, simples mas bem conseguido e divertido.