George and the Great Bum Stampede

I've been reading and listening to quite a lot of fairly heavy duty nonfiction lately. The Power of Hope. Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race. All great, and interesting, and important books. But it's a somewhat unusual phase for me. So when I saw Cal Wilson's first kids book on the shelves I knew it was for me. Cal Wilson is a comedian, and she is very funny. I've enjoyed her on the tele, and seen her as part of the Sydney Comedy Festival Roadshow at some stage. 

George and the Great Bum Stampede is the first of what seems to be a series about the Pepperton family. They Peppertons are a zany and fun family. Mum is Professor Pippa Pepperton, a crazy scientist type who is always making wacky inventions. She has already shrunk George's brother Poco to the size of a lemon. His sisters are Pumpernickel, Paprika and Pilates. Pepperton Perfection. 

This book tells the tale of The Worst Week Ever. This involves ghastly new neighbours - the rich and super snobby Finleys - including their son Princely Farnsley Finley and an incident with one of Professor Pipperton's best inventions The Pepperton Replicator.  

Picture source

The whole book is chock full of bums, and when there are this many bums then the fart jokes can't be too far behind! I especially love the notion of the startle fart, or fartle, and every 8 year old in existence will too. I laughed out loud and chortled more than is seemly for the middle-aged.

There are great illustrations by Sarah Davis that really add to the humour. The layout is fabulous with interesting fonts and use of space. I thought I didn't know Sarah Davis's name, but she illustrated the delightful Violet Mackerel books by Anna Branford (see my review). 

I'm going to donate my copy to my favourite local Primary School to share the fun with the intended audience. I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of George and the Great Brain Swappery in July. 

Cal Wilson is of course a Kiwi, but has lived in Australia for a long time, so I'm going to claim her for AWW2019. I hope she doesn't mind. 

http://australianwomenwriters.com