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Stinkbomb and Ketchup-Face #3
Stinker und Matschbacke und die abschauderlichen Pizza-Schurken
Das kann doch nicht wahr sein – die Dachse sind schon wieder aus dem Gefängnis ausgebrochen! Und was noch schlimmer ist: Die Bücherei von Pflapflingen steht plötzlich schief. Wenn sie umkippt, wird die gesamte Insel kentern und alle Fruksländer mit ins Verderben reißen. Da hilft nur eins: Jemand muss sich todesmutig in die düstere Unterwelt begeben und nach dem Rechten sehen. Also begeben sich Stinker und Matschbacke todesmutig in die düstere Unterwelt – und müssen feststellen, dass es noch abgrundtief bösere Wesen gibt als die abgrundtief bösen Dachse (die übrigens gar nicht so abgrundtief böse sind ) …
- GenresChildrens
190 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2015
5 people are currently reading
48 people want to read
About the author
John Dougherty
73 books20 followersJohn Dougherty is an award-winning Northern Irish children's writer, born in the town of Larne in 1964. He now lives in Gloucestershire.
He worked as a primary school teacher in London during the 1990s and early 2000s, and during this period began to write stories for children. His first book was published in 2004 and he left teaching the same year to concentrate on his writing career.
From November 2013 – 2015, he was chair of CWIG, the Children's Writer's and Illustrators Group, a sub-group of the UK's Society of Authors.
He worked as a primary school teacher in London during the 1990s and early 2000s, and during this period began to write stories for children. His first book was published in 2004 and he left teaching the same year to concentrate on his writing career.
From November 2013 – 2015, he was chair of CWIG, the Children's Writer's and Illustrators Group, a sub-group of the UK's Society of Authors.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 12, 2019
WOWZERS MY TROUSERS!
Stinkbomb, a boy who fills his pockets with "useful stuff," and his sister Ketchup-Face, a hyperactive and outspoken girl, live on Great Kerfuffle Island.
When a talking trolley (shopping cart) shows up at their door with a mission from the Great Kerfuffle Secret Service, Stinkbomb and Ketchup-Face go along for the ride (see what I did there?).
Along their adventure, they encounter a whole cast of interesting characters, such as King Toothbrush Weasel and his one-man (scratch that, cat) army, Malcolm the Cat, a ninja librarian, and a whole bunch of evil badgers.
The story itself is silly and delightfully self-aware, which makes for a great read for both children and adults. You see some really interesting choices in style and structure, from certain words or phrases having a different font and size, to entire pages being repetitive to add a punch to the humor, and more that will keep even the most distractible of children focused on the story.
The characters' actions are often nonsensical and children will love seeing characters who won't notice what's right in front of their faces. Stinkbomb repeatedly says "Wowsers my trousers!" when he is surprised, which is funny and cute. My favorite character was Malcolm the Cat because he reminds me of my two cats, because he takes his sweet time following the King's orders.
Upon researching this title and author, I realized that this is a series and am definitely excited to get my hands on the other titles. I also saw that John Dougherty is a well-established author, and will be seeking out more of his works in the future.
I think this book is one that fans of Captain Underpants and similar works would definitely enjoy. It's very action-packed and goofy, too, so parents won't mind if they have to read it aloud.
I received a free digital ARC of this book from NetGalley. I was not required to post a positive review.
Stinkbomb, a boy who fills his pockets with "useful stuff," and his sister Ketchup-Face, a hyperactive and outspoken girl, live on Great Kerfuffle Island.
When a talking trolley (shopping cart) shows up at their door with a mission from the Great Kerfuffle Secret Service, Stinkbomb and Ketchup-Face go along for the ride (see what I did there?).
Along their adventure, they encounter a whole cast of interesting characters, such as King Toothbrush Weasel and his one-man (scratch that, cat) army, Malcolm the Cat, a ninja librarian, and a whole bunch of evil badgers.
The story itself is silly and delightfully self-aware, which makes for a great read for both children and adults. You see some really interesting choices in style and structure, from certain words or phrases having a different font and size, to entire pages being repetitive to add a punch to the humor, and more that will keep even the most distractible of children focused on the story.
The characters' actions are often nonsensical and children will love seeing characters who won't notice what's right in front of their faces. Stinkbomb repeatedly says "Wowsers my trousers!" when he is surprised, which is funny and cute. My favorite character was Malcolm the Cat because he reminds me of my two cats, because he takes his sweet time following the King's orders.
Upon researching this title and author, I realized that this is a series and am definitely excited to get my hands on the other titles. I also saw that John Dougherty is a well-established author, and will be seeking out more of his works in the future.
I think this book is one that fans of Captain Underpants and similar works would definitely enjoy. It's very action-packed and goofy, too, so parents won't mind if they have to read it aloud.
I received a free digital ARC of this book from NetGalley. I was not required to post a positive review.
January 28, 2015
This is the third Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face and is as silly and funny as the others. My 8-year-old and me really enjoyed it.
The book starts with the character introductions, which includes the beloved characters that featured in the previous two books such as the badgers and the shopping trolley, so you can get up to speed straight away. In fact no knowledge of the previous two books is required to read this one.
The story sees Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face become honorary secret agents in the Great Kerfuffle Secret Service. Their job is to find out what is happening to the Great Kerfuffle library which seems to be tipping over and "if the library tips over, the whole island will capsize and we shall all be drowned in the sea."
Of course the badgers are responsible, what with their having discovered the legendary abandoned pizza mines of Great Kerfuffle, but there is yet more badger naughtiness than normal this time as new badgers appear from the International Gang of Badgery Naughtiness.
Luckily Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face rescue the day of course, with an adventure full of action, fun and surreal-ness.
The book starts with the character introductions, which includes the beloved characters that featured in the previous two books such as the badgers and the shopping trolley, so you can get up to speed straight away. In fact no knowledge of the previous two books is required to read this one.
The story sees Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face become honorary secret agents in the Great Kerfuffle Secret Service. Their job is to find out what is happening to the Great Kerfuffle library which seems to be tipping over and "if the library tips over, the whole island will capsize and we shall all be drowned in the sea."
Of course the badgers are responsible, what with their having discovered the legendary abandoned pizza mines of Great Kerfuffle, but there is yet more badger naughtiness than normal this time as new badgers appear from the International Gang of Badgery Naughtiness.
Luckily Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face rescue the day of course, with an adventure full of action, fun and surreal-ness.
August 19, 2016
I really have fun with every single word in this book
November 12, 2020
Hyvää huumoria
October 8, 2016
This was a brilliant, hilarious little read. It's one of a series for young children, about a weird island called Kerfuffle and has a range of crazy characters, e.g. naughty badgers, a shopping trolley that thinks its a horse, two kids who pretend to be secret agents, a cat called Malcolm and a King who lives in a cottage.
But what makes this better than the average comedy book for kids is it has a unique, understated sense-of-humour that comes from John Dougherty's chirpy and sarcastic writing voice. There's a fun, central storyline that keeps you guessing and some different plays on how chapters and illustrations are structured in books. A great read!
But what makes this better than the average comedy book for kids is it has a unique, understated sense-of-humour that comes from John Dougherty's chirpy and sarcastic writing voice. There's a fun, central storyline that keeps you guessing and some different plays on how chapters and illustrations are structured in books. A great read!
January 20, 2015
There are a few important things to know about the Island Kingdom of Great Kerfuffle. One is that it is pestered by a criminal gang of badgers, who find it impossible to just sit around in prison, but always have to escape and cause danger and nastiness to other people, even if they are on the whole incredibly stupid. You also need to know, however, that brother and sister Stinkbomb and Ketchup-Face are great at solving the problems the badgers cause, and getting through the adventures in a very self-knowing way, even discussing the lengths of the chapters and the style of story as they go about their business. Here the problem is revealed quite late on, so in an effort not to spoil the plot I'll just point out that in a book this stupidly, deliriously daft you hardly need bother about the plot in the first place, and can just relax and have the sheer joy of entertainment for an hour or so.
When this landed on my doorstep it was with a natural reaction – Oh, those bloody badgers again – joined by a silly grin. Silliness is prime in this series, and grinning and being silly is only a natural response to these books, whatever your age. Of course, having read it I can come up with a more appropriate comment, such as, oh I don't know, Gosh my pants! That was great!. This book is not just infectiously silly, it is quite relevantly quotable as well. Trust me, there are countless examples of silliness and inventiveness that I could mention, but this is one example of silliness that is justified, where the daftness is not there just because the author can get away with it whether it makes sense or not, and where the whole exuberance is certainly worth discovering for yourself.
Rest assured that even though I have not given a real plot summary, and neither does the back cover blurb, there is a real adventure to be had here. It's not just a rehash of the prior two books either, but it is up to their standard, if not beyond it. There is once more something daft, amusing or something that books aren't supposed to do, that will all appeal to the reluctant reader, on every page. There is once again the feeling that anyone will engage with this, on some level, whatever their intelligence or reading experience. And there is the returning sense that this series just hits the right buttons in appealing to the madcap, Mr Gum-styled genre fan. The books are coming out quickly – if you're reading this past July 2015 then there's already a fourth one to consider – but with no letting up in quality so far, it's an easy, worry-free decision to make – the very thing one-click purchasing is made for.
When this landed on my doorstep it was with a natural reaction – Oh, those bloody badgers again – joined by a silly grin. Silliness is prime in this series, and grinning and being silly is only a natural response to these books, whatever your age. Of course, having read it I can come up with a more appropriate comment, such as, oh I don't know, Gosh my pants! That was great!. This book is not just infectiously silly, it is quite relevantly quotable as well. Trust me, there are countless examples of silliness and inventiveness that I could mention, but this is one example of silliness that is justified, where the daftness is not there just because the author can get away with it whether it makes sense or not, and where the whole exuberance is certainly worth discovering for yourself.
Rest assured that even though I have not given a real plot summary, and neither does the back cover blurb, there is a real adventure to be had here. It's not just a rehash of the prior two books either, but it is up to their standard, if not beyond it. There is once more something daft, amusing or something that books aren't supposed to do, that will all appeal to the reluctant reader, on every page. There is once again the feeling that anyone will engage with this, on some level, whatever their intelligence or reading experience. And there is the returning sense that this series just hits the right buttons in appealing to the madcap, Mr Gum-styled genre fan. The books are coming out quickly – if you're reading this past July 2015 then there's already a fourth one to consider – but with no letting up in quality so far, it's an easy, worry-free decision to make – the very thing one-click purchasing is made for.
March 4, 2019
Fun and relatively easy read. I bought this book specifically for my reluctant reader. Short chapters and a few 'free pages' where a single word is used For eg. Someone knocking on the door for a full page and a half "knock, knock Na knock knock knock" I thought this was genius, as children can sometimes be quite overwhelmed by the amount of pages in a book or words on a page and a few free passes like this really helps to take the pressure off and it's kind of funny too. Lots of laughter and giggles from all of us. Will definitely be looking out for more in this series.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews