The Rupert Annual 2021

by Egmont Publishing UK

Celebrate one hundred years of Rupert Bear with this official Annual. It has been one hundred years since the birth of Rupert Bear, and he remains as popular as ever. The 2021 Annual contains a collection of carefully curated stories and activities themed around the idea of celebration, including Rupert and the Rainbow (Alfred Bestall, 1948) and Rupert and the Apple Trees (John Harrold, 1999).It also includes a brand new story by Stuart Trotter, all about Rupert's birthday. This year, Rupert's birthday doesn't go quite as planned when Rupert and his chums find themselves in the middle of a time-travel adventure.

120 pages, Hardcover

Published August 5, 2020

Reviews

[Martyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you were to rate this as a book for today's child, as a disposable book, then you wouldn't really have much grounds for complaint. It's bright, it's colourful, it has nice illustrations and interesting stories. But . . . if you are rating it as a collector then it is absolutely pathetic. I know we've grown used to Stuart Trotter only contributing one new story each year, and for all the rest of the stories to be repeats from earlier annuals, but with this particular annual, celebrating the hundredth birthday of Rupert, you would have thought they'd have made something much more special of it, and presented a selection of stories representing all the artists down the years, with stories from each of them. Instead we had just one Bestall, three Harrolds, and one Trotter – and no Mary Tourtel (unless you count Stuart Trotter borrowing some of her characters). It just seemed like an oddly limited selection for such a notable anniversary volume, and so much more could have been made of it. Disappointing to say the least.

[Snorki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a good offering this year; the usual pattern these days of recycling old stories from classic writers like John Harold and Alfred Bestall, plus one new story, this time about Rupert’s 100th birthday. Charming and nostalgic!

[Sabrina AD · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the time travelling birthday story, I thought it was a really clever mixture of old and new!

[Ashley Lambert-Maberly]

2021, no 85, published 2020