What do you think?
Rate this book
The Trouble with Parents
The Trouble With Dad
Dad's fantastic robot creations cause the family to have incredible adventures.
- GenresPicture BooksChildrens
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
3 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
About the author
Babette Cole
109 books76 followersBabette Cole was a British children's author and illustrator. Born on the island of Jersey in the Channel Islands in 1949, she attended the Canterbury College of Art (now the University for the Creative Arts) and received first-class BA Honors. She worked on such children's programmes as Bagpuss (working with Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin) and Jackanory for BBC television.
As a children's writer, Cole created more than 150 picture books. Her best-seller Doctor Dog has been adapted as a successful children's cartoon series. Much of her work is earthy comedy, having titles like The Smelly Book, The Hairy Book, The Slimy Book and The Silly Book.
She spent her time writing, visiting schools and traveling. After a short illness she died on 15 January 2017, aged 66.
As a children's writer, Cole created more than 150 picture books. Her best-seller Doctor Dog has been adapted as a successful children's cartoon series. Much of her work is earthy comedy, having titles like The Smelly Book, The Hairy Book, The Slimy Book and The Silly Book.
She spent her time writing, visiting schools and traveling. After a short illness she died on 15 January 2017, aged 66.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 3, 2012
Babette Cole and her fantastic array of children’s stories can keep you entertained at any time! She has a vast collection of stories in ‘The Trouble with...Mum, Gran, and Granddad' series; however this story is my most favourite of them all. The authors style of writing always makes everyone laugh with the crazy ideas and situations the characters create for themselves of find themselves in.
The trouble with Dad is his crazy ideas and strange inventions which drove mum crazy! Bored of his 9-5 job, Dad wanted a change to do something more exciting and in his spare time experimented with creating robots. Although many of them were quite bizarre they were quite practical such as helping with the housework, and helping old ladies across the road! Dad’s robots became famous and the BBC came to film them as part of a documentary. However trouble strikes when his baby son gets hold of the controller of all the robots and sends them all haywire! When a rich Arab sees all to commotion on TV his eyes light as and he wants to by all of Dads robots! Finally Dads luck has come in and he did not have to work a single day of his life again, only spending all of his free time creating and experimenting with new robots with his son!
The illustrations alone are hilarious with lot of funny detail in what is happening in each picture. The colours used are bright and cheerful. There are some tongue twisters with the names of some of the robots however the illustrations do help with decoding these words and provide a clue to what they maybe. This is a wonderful story and enjoyed by all.
The trouble with Dad is his crazy ideas and strange inventions which drove mum crazy! Bored of his 9-5 job, Dad wanted a change to do something more exciting and in his spare time experimented with creating robots. Although many of them were quite bizarre they were quite practical such as helping with the housework, and helping old ladies across the road! Dad’s robots became famous and the BBC came to film them as part of a documentary. However trouble strikes when his baby son gets hold of the controller of all the robots and sends them all haywire! When a rich Arab sees all to commotion on TV his eyes light as and he wants to by all of Dads robots! Finally Dads luck has come in and he did not have to work a single day of his life again, only spending all of his free time creating and experimenting with new robots with his son!
The illustrations alone are hilarious with lot of funny detail in what is happening in each picture. The colours used are bright and cheerful. There are some tongue twisters with the names of some of the robots however the illustrations do help with decoding these words and provide a clue to what they maybe. This is a wonderful story and enjoyed by all.
November 9, 2012
As a child I had an almost unhealthy obsession with this book as so when I found it in the book corner of the Year 1 class with whom I am undertaking my SBT1 I was naturally delighted. The story is told by a little boy who has an extraordinary inventor for a Dad. Dad starts off with a very boring job and then shoots to fame with the success of his inventions. But inevitably everything goes topsy turvy when Dad looses control of the robots and they wreak havoc on the town. (It think the similarity of the main character with my own Dad was what made this book so especially enjoyable for me!)
The language is simple but imaginative making it stimulating for children in Year 1 who are beginning to write their own stories. The illustrations are richly detailed and very atmospheric. There is a lot of room for directed questioning with regard to the images, as the text outlines the bare minimum while the pictures provide the detail in the setting and the story. I really enjoyed revisiting this book when reading it to my Year 1 class and they responded well to it by thinking up their own inventions.
The language is simple but imaginative making it stimulating for children in Year 1 who are beginning to write their own stories. The illustrations are richly detailed and very atmospheric. There is a lot of room for directed questioning with regard to the images, as the text outlines the bare minimum while the pictures provide the detail in the setting and the story. I really enjoyed revisiting this book when reading it to my Year 1 class and they responded well to it by thinking up their own inventions.
June 22, 2021
Somehow this garbage made its way into my home and I'm pissed about it. This book is full of stereotypical and racist imagery; the only characters of color are depicted with sterotypically exaggerated features, the "rich man" is obviously supposed to be a creepy character and shown in Arab style clothing, covered in jewels, with multiple women cowering behind him, the mom in the story hates everything the dad does/ nags him about his passionate inventions. I hate everything about this book. It's the worst.
July 24, 2019
Tämä ei oikeastaan huvittanut minua tai kuopusta laisinkaan. Hassunkurinen-sarjan muut osat ovat sentään naurattaneet, mutta tämän luki läpi ilman sen suurempia tyrskähtämisiä.
January 8, 2014
The trouble with Dad is that his job is so boring that he spends all his spare time making crazy robots – thief-catching robots, football-playing robots, slimming robots – and they all go wrong! Bestselling author Babette Cole brings her unique humour and delightful illustrations to this hilarious tale
June 4, 2015
The pictures in this book were first class, but I have to say that I wished the Mom in this book was the same one from The Trouble With Mom, and it's not.
October 25, 2016
I love it! I can never tire to read it to my children.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews