Grimwood: Attack of the Stink Monster by Nadia Shireen – at a glance
The School Reading Lists’ five word review: an emotionally engaging wild adventure.
Children’s book title: Grimwood: Attack of the Stink Monster.
Children’s author and illustrator: Nadia Shireen.
Genre: Children’s fiction.
Published by: Simon & Schuster..
ISBN: 9781471199363.
Recommended for children aged: 7+ year-olds.
First published: Hardcover, August 2023. This edition: paperback February 2024.
This children’s book is ideal for: for all KS2 & KS3 pupils, especially reluctant readers who are sure to engage with the crazy characters.
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Our review:
‘Awooga!’ Shireen is back with her third Grimwood novel! For those who have read the first two books, the slightly sketchy, cross-eyed animals adorning this acid-green front cover may well be expected. For the newcomer, the good news is that this can be read as a standalone but be warned: this series is bonkers. If the cover doesn’t entice every pupil in class, the writing inside certainly will.
Don’t let the classic English countryside backdrop deceive you… although this may be what fox protagonists Nancy and Ted anticipated when they left the big city to live in the countryside, what follows is far from peaceful. The plot starts rather manically, immediately situating us in preparations for a squirrel wedding – that obviously ends in tragedy.
There’s a silent disco, a moose that seems to be continuously crying or baking, and a cute hyperactive bunny that can do taekwondo. Throughout, Shireen fills the gaps in our imaginations with chaotic-like illustrations and purposefully grimy pages. Eventually, we are presented with the main plot; the residents of Grimwood keep finding large footprints. It’s assumed they are being taunted by a smelly bigfoot (hence the furry beast on the front cover) so this wonderful bunch of characters team up to find the culprit. But… do they manage to catch it? Is it really a bigfoot?
With the help of Eric the woodlouse, who narrates the story from an outsider’s (comically critical) perspective, out of the bizarre comes more serious themes, including the importance of friendship, the support of siblings, familial separation and reconciliation, and finally, learning how to forgive.
This review is dedicated to Romeo and Juliet, who are both unceremoniously eaten in Chapter 4.
Our verdict:
Aimed at children aged 7+, the chapters are suitably short which makes this book ideal for reading aloud to the class. The unpredictable humour will engage and further motivate pupils to read independently. Also, the plot is a good starting point for outdoor activities such as animal tracking and habitat identification. Due to the range of characters, we recommend preparing a read beforehand.
Many thanks to Simon & Schuster for the review copy.
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If you like Grimwood: Attack of the Stink Monster by Nadia Shireen you might also like: Peanut Jones and the End of the Rainbow by Rob Biddulph, There’s a Beast in the Basement! by Pamela Butchart and Thomas Flintham, InvestiGators by John Patrick Green and Dave Pigeon by Swapna Haddow and Sheena Dempsey.
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