Clinton Gregory's Secret

by Bruce Whatley

A week in the life of a boy with a very active imagination.

Clinton Gregory has a secret. Actually, Clinton Gregory has at least seven secrets, one for each night of the week. Monday, he wrestled a dragon named Gordon; Wednesday, he was invited to dinner with giants; and Sunday, he made paper hats for a ship full of pirates and then rocketed to the moon and back! But the secrets don’t stop there . . .

For the daydreamer in every child, this adventurous fantasy is filled with lush details to discover in each illustration. Children will pore over the large doublepage spreads during storytime readings and nod off to sleep at bedtime after following Clinton Gregory’s very busy, outrageously whimsical agenda.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2008

About the author

Bruce jumped into the unknown world of picture books after a career in advertising as an Illustrator and art director working in London then Sydney. Since 1992 Bruce has written and/or illustrated over 80 children’s picture books. Though based in Australia his work is published internationally and in 2014 was included in the Bologna Children’s Book Fair Exhibition.

His award winning titles include The Ugliest Dog in the World, Looking for Crabs, Detective Donut and the Wild Goose Chase, Diary of a Wombat, The Little Refugee, Flood, Fire, And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda and Cyclone.

His main inspiration has been his family, who feature in several of his earlier picture books, his wife Rosie Smith being co-author on many of his projects. He uses a variety of illustration medium including gouache, pen and ink, pencil, oils, watercolour and more recently CGI software. His aim is to entertain and surprise the reader with illustration styles that vary considerably depending on the text and the age group of his audience.

Bruce completed his PhD, in 2008 Left Hand Right Hand: implications of ambidextrous image making looking at the image making of the non-dominant hand discovering that in most people the ability to draw lies in using the ‘other’ hand. He has since illustrated 3 books with his non-dominant left hand.

Bruce is continually looking for new innovative ways to make images to tell his visual narratives.

Reviews

[Jack Kirby and the X-man · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bruce Whatley has attempted to capture what occurs in a child's imagination. This can be a tricky thing for an adult to do - after all I think even the most expensive recreational drugs would struggle to allow an adult to come up with the disjointed, crazy, bizarre imaginary world the average 4 year-old can come up with. And every author in the genre has to compete with the 1865 classic Alice in Wonderland. This being said Bruce has put together a pretty solid book - taking you to a world where tigers have spots, triceratops tightrope walk and seahorses play catch.

Bruce's forte is definately illustration - which is done to perfection. Fortunately he has had the sense to keep the text simple and short!

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good pictures. Cute little story. I think I liked the idea more than the execution.

[Hannah Richardson]

Clinton Gregory has a secret. He goes into this world where anything is possible - a world where dragons and dinosaurs can be your best friends! He plays with these friends until he can't anymore. Then he goes into another world with more creatures to have fun with. The only problem is that nobody knows about these world except himself. And he wants to keep it that way.

This book was really adorable. Everything from the name to the illustrations. Bruce Whatley did a great job at getting across the idea of make believe worlds many kiddos live in. I bet kids love reading this book and seeing what adventures they can get themselves into (just like Clinton Gregory).

You could use this book as a fun free-read in an early elementary classroom. First graders would love a book like this and possibly be able to relate to the make-believe aspect on some level.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clinton Gregory has a secret: Several, in fact. On Monday, he wrestled a dragon (Don’t worry, the dragon is his best friend). On Tuesday, he played catch with a magic sea horse. The adventures continue throughout the week, until Clinton and his friends begin planning for the next week. What will they do? The author’s not saying. This is a fanciful tale of imagination with gloriously detailed illustrations. As a language/narrative skills builder, perhaps after reading the kids could share their “secret” adventures.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

We don't keep secrets from each other in my household...unless it's 'Don't tell Mommy that I let you have that doughnut before dinner' or 'We were at the library, not the comic-book shop' type secrets. This is a clever little book, and while I feel that it came close to greatness but fell a little flat, I still appreciate the raw creativity.

[Alice-Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since most of the books I read these days are children's books...I thought I'd add a favorite of my kids. This is clever story with fun elements to them (every page we have to find all of Clinton Gregory's friends).

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would use this for preschool storytime. It's imaginative, with a cast of colorful characters. My only complaint, Clinton Gregory looks like a middle-aged man trapped in a child's body. If you can get past that, then chances are, you'll like this book.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very creative story with great pictures. Used for my secrets-themed storyhour.

[Kelly]

12/29/10 preschool
5/18/11 toddler

[Camille]

Great book to encourage imagination and hopefully to spark it, too!
c

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clinton Gregory has seven delightful secrets, lots of imagination and peaceful playful night time dreams. One feels like they are off on adventure when reading this title.

[Roseann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful pictures,
great imagination- my five year old thought traveling on plates of spaghetti was a wonderful yet crazy idea! I loved it more than she, I think!

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the imagination of this kid... especially since he thinks it's no big deal. Reminds me of my boys...

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Henry and I read this on September 26th. Cute book but not outstanding. Illustrations added to the cuteness of the book. Great starting point to talk about dreams.

[The Brothers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clinton Gregory has a wonderful imagination and the worlds he creates with it are his secrets.

Excellent illustrations.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book about imagination. i read it for Toddler story time.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is for children with an eye for observation and imagination. It was lost on Dirk.