Towser and the Terrible Thing

Towser

by Tony Ross

Towser the dog becomes a hero when he devises a way of ridding the kingdom of the Terrible Thing.

32 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1984

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Tony Ross is a British illustrator and author of children's picture books. He was a student at the Liverpool School of Art and Design. Ross has had quite a few occupations, such as cartoonist, graphic designer, art director at an advertising agency, senior lecturer in art and head of the illustration course at Manchester Polytechnic.
Ross won the 1986 Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis, picture books category, for Ich komm dich holen!, (I'm coming to get you! - Andersen, 1984. He was runner-up for the 1990 Kate Greenaway Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject, for Dr. Xargle's book of Earth Tiggers.

Meet the illustrator
What is your favourite animal?
A cat
What is your favourite boy’s name?
Bill
What is your favourite girl’s name?
Roxanne
What is your favourite food?
Lobster
What is your favourite music?
Irish
What is your favourite hobby?
Sailing

Reviews

[Scotty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Towser and the Terrible Thing is part of a series of books by Tony Ross about a dog who has various adventures. In this particular story, Towser is picked on by the Terrble Thing, a monster who likes to peck dogs with his large beak. Towser runs away and takes refuge where he meets a king who also despises the Terrible Thing. Towser has a cunning plan and captures all the flies in the kingdom using a jam jar with a little jam at the bottom. He then gets a knight to take the flies to the next kingdom and in turn, the birds follow the flies and the cats follow the birds and the dogs follow the cats and finally, the Terrible Thing packs his bags and follows the dogs to the next kingdom. The king is so pleased that he awards Towser the nicest medal he could find.

As a story, the book is certainly suited to KS1 pupils, however, only strong readers in Year 1 would be able to read without the assistance of an adult. For this reason, I would use this book for story time rather than independent reading. When read with an adult, children could be challenged to count the flowers or the animals in the story. Similarly, pupils could be asked to sequence the story, especially the part where Towser's plan is played out (i.e. which animals chase which) The pictures are colourful and of a very high standard, in places they are also quite funny. The vocabulary isn't particularly phonics friendly although pupils that are more advanced would get a lot of practice using digraphs such as 'ow' 'th' and 'er.' More challenging vocabulary such as 'counted' and 'suitable' are placed in a sensible context which support young readers in terms of helping them to understand the meaning of unfamiliar words. If read with an adult, pupils could be challenged to demonstrate that they understand the story through concept checking questions.

[Wendy Unsworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely classic in our house. my children loved Towser, the dog and being scared as his met up with the Terrible Thing. A simple story, great illustrations. I am glad that I kept our copy to read to the grandchildren who are now just about the right age.