The Great Farty Slob Beast

by Charlie Farley

"Bored children get monsters to play with, not Dad."

So begins this riotous, rhyming adventure as the Great Farty Slob Beast threatens to gobble up Molly and her two little sisters. Will Molly’s plan to distract the Slob Beast with a hilarious day-trip to London be enough to stop his greedy plans?

32 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2020

Reviews

[Theediscerning]

While their mother is too busy washing her hair, three girls protest to their father that they're bored and want something new to play at. Unfortunately, bored girls don't get to play with their father, but with a monster instead – it's a good thing then that this fath- sorry, monster is willing to take them to London to see the sights. This might involve demolishing the London Eye, and farting in the general direction of the Queen.

This is one of those 'wow, the powers of imaginative play' books – without declaring it actually is imaginative play. It is also showing its age with the Queen, having first come out in 2015. On the whole it would be visually attractive but nothing special, were it not for the rhyming narrative it all comes in. This is certainly strong enough to bulk this up to a full four stars, and makes for an enjoyable read-along. It's not spectacular, but having it back in the marketplace is not a bad thing at all. (The use of the word 'diaper' in an English book does jar, mind.)

[Nicole]

Thank you to Netgalley for our Arc copy.

Read this with my 2 year old and we really enjoyed this story. We haven't gotten to the bored stage yet but she followed the plot. I personally loved that it gave some light to London and main tourist attractions that I can't wait to take her to one day. The illustrations were lovely as well.

[Lisa Davidson]

This is a fantastic fun bedtime story. There's so much imagination and love on every page and it's genuinely funny. The pictures are wonderful, with the kind of detail that's fun to have conversations about.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

[Amethyst Maxey]

I don’t think the title of the book fits the story. There wasn’t much farting at all from the slob. However, it was still a funny and silly story with great rhymes. The illustrations were also bright and fun.

[LORIANN (my opinion doesn't mean much, but ...)]

A very cute children's book told in rhyming verse. This will for sure be one of those book that will be pulled out a lot, but your little ones at bed time. Even though there is a Great Farty Beast on the front cover he is just a loveable old guy in disguise. The pictures and detail are also incredible and will have your children picking out things.

The one thing I'm not so sure of is the title ... hmmm the Slob beast did not do much farting and if my daughter would be young enough to read this one she would be really disappointed in this because she loves farting!

All in all though it is a very darling book.

Thank you NetGalley and Charlie Farley for allowing me read this very special book!!!

[Lizzie]

This lovely book will appeal to many a parent that has heard the words “we’re bored!”, experienced the artful negotiation of children wanting entertainment, and longed for more exercise of the imagination.

Written in rhyming verse, it is a playful read in the voice of eldest daughter Molly with some child-speak (“...tried my most best”) along with grumblings from the gigantic, scary, great farty slob beast.

With stomping, ker-crashes, things a-slither and a quiver, whoopsies and cameo appearances from the queen, there is lots of scope to make this a much-loved, and engaging read-aloud story - especially when combined with the charming illustrations that work well with the text to add drama (the beast’s shadow on the floor) and humour.

The attention to detail is delightful. I particularly liked the carefully placed book titles, the ‘King Kong’ banner on the London Bus below Big Ben, and the all-important picnic blanket staging in the opening and closing spreads.

[Rachel (Rae)]

Well the first thing to mention is the illustrations as they are pretty much the first thing you see. They are eye catching with big, bold and most of all fun pictures. They were a great match to the story and talking about the story I loved how it was on the subject of boredom. Now pretty much everyone knows the difficulty in keeping children entertained. Both myself and my children thought the Slob Beast was brilliant and we all loved the adventure he went on with the children. Especially as this was to London, my little boy loved pointing out the sights!

As usual whenever we finish a new book I talk to my children about the story and ask them to tell me their favourite part. My little boy chose the visit to the aquarium, I think this was down to all the water!

The words that were used within the story were easy to understand but with the occasional longer word which I thought was perfect. The rhyming story flows with ease and made it a pleasure to read.

I have a two and a four year old and although I would say it is more suited to my eldest my little girl also found the book enjoyable. As a family we have sat down numerous times to read this book and I'm sure we will continue to do so. Overall this story made us all smile and laugh which makes it a perfect addition to our bookshelf!

The Great Farty Slob Beast is definitely a hit with us!

Thank you to Boolino, Wacky Bee Books for our copy. This is my honest and unbiased opinion.