Fizzlebert Stump and the Great Supermarket Showdown

Fizzlebert Stump #6

by A.F. Harrold

Perfect for fans of Mr Gum and Roald Dahl, this highly successful and widely praised series featuring a boy, a circus and a lot of silliness is now available in a bright new package.

'Freewheeling frivolity' - Financial Times

'Once, and once only, there was a boy whose name was Fizzlebert.'

Fizzlebert Stump lives in a circus. But when the ringmaster sells Fizz's circus to the mysterious Mr Pinkbottle, disaster strikes! All the acts who aren't fired are forced to work in his supermarket. Not an easy task at all if your only skill is plate-spinning or being a trapeze artist, or indeed a sea lion! Will the ex-circus performers adjust to their new lives as shop assistants, or will Fizz find a way to save them all?

304 pages, Paperback

Published March 28, 2017

About the author

A.F. Harrold is an English poet. He writes and performs for adults and children, in cabaret and in schools, in bars and in basements, in fields and indoors. He was Glastonbury Festival Website's Poet-In-Residence in 2008, and Poet-In-Residence at Cheltenham Literature Festival in 2010. He won the Cheltenham All Stars Slam Championship in 2007 and has had his work on BBC Radio 4, Radio 3 and BBC7. He is active in schools work, running workshops and slams and doing performances at ungodly hours of the morning, and has published several collections of poetry. He is the owner of many books, a handful of hats, a few good ideas and one beard

Reviews

[Bruce Gargoyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of this title from Bloomsbury Australia for review.

Ten Second Synopsis:
Fizzlebert (Fizz to his friends), member of a travelling circus, finds himself in an unexpected position when the circus is sold to a local supermarket. Will Fizz and his friends be able to use their special skills to serve the supermarket - or is there a way to return to the circus?

Fizzlebert Stump delivers plenty of offbeat humour and general silliness and if you are a fan of the humorous stylings of folk like David Walliams, you should find plenty to enjoy here. I was quite relieved at the book unexpectedly beginning with Chapter Four, given that it made me feel like I had made progress before I had even started reading, but this is cleared up in due course and the book re-starts at Chapter One. Having not read the earlier five books in the series was not a problem thanks to the very thorough narrator (who interjects at regular intervals to take the reader off at a tangent) thoughtfully presenting a concise recap of important things to know about Fizz and the circus. Essentially, this story features a blackmail attempt that results in the circus folk being forced to work as cashiers, packers and night staff at Pinkbottle's supermarket, with predictably ridiculous results. Luckily though, Fizz and his friend Alice are on the case and all ends well, provided you consider police officers being shanghaied into impromptu circus acts a satisfying ending. The book is peppered with black and white illustrations throughout, and the general presentation is designed to inspire fun and reflect the chaotic and quirky life of Fizz and his circus family. If you have a mini-fleshling who is at chapter book level and loves stories featuring silliness and slapstick, the Fizzlebert Stump series, and this offering in particular, could be a savvy choice.

[Harriet Woodhead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adventurous

[Rhyllis Bignell · Rating 2 out of 5]

A.F. Harrold's Fizzlebert Stump comical stories come packed with quirky individuals, farcical situations, general silliness and mad mayhem. We begin with Chapter 4; luckily, the narrator consistently interrupts with stacks of irrelevant and irreverent background information! Fizzlebert Stump formally lived in a travelling circus with his clown mother and strongman father. Now Fizzlebert or Fizz to his friends is a strong twelve-year-old boy currently working as a bag boy for tyrannical Mr. Pinkbottle's superstore. Fortunately, the tale returns to Chapter 1 and all is explained, the Ringmaster has sold the circus and all of the circus performers under contract are given new jobs in the store. Fizz overhears Mr. P's diabolical plans to blackmail the Ringmaster and disband the circus. Sarah Horne's black and white cartoons enliven the pandemonium, there is Madame Plume de Matant's flatulent explosion at the cheese counter, Alice's the burglar under Mr. Pinkbottle's desk and Fizz's reunion with Fish the sea lion.