I met the author of this
book, A.F. Harrold - a red-haired,
red-bearded poet – at the Stockton Children’s Book of the Year event just
before Easter. I also had to admit I’d never heard of his book title before.
An aside: That "new book to read" moment, in itself, is
one of the strengths and pleasures of the many regional library awards.
From my
experience, having also visited the West Sussex Children’s Book Award, these carefully-thought-out reading projects seem, within the limited number of titles on their lists, to
offer a wide variety of fiction to all the children and schools involved. The awards introduce the young readers and the schools to wider range of reading styles and enthusiasms than they might choose for themselves. So a huge hooray for
all those unsung librarians who do the work that keeps these regional awards
going!
Meanwhile, back to the
subject of this review - and our oddly named hero.
Fizzlebert Stump lives
with his two busy parents (a clown and a strong man) in a caravan, because
he is a circus child. Surrounded by adults and animals, Fizz is not very familiar
with the ways of the ordinary world. He is also lonely and longs for
another child to be his friend.
One day, Fizz meets a gang
of friendly children. However, when he reveals his full name, they tease and
bully him. In all the fuss, one of the
gang drops a library book which is a concept unknown by Fizz. Asking around,
he is told there is a library nearby. Deciding to do the right thing, he returns the
book to the mysterious building.
There Fizz makes an error.
He tries to borrow a book and discovers he needs to have his own personal
ticket. The librarian has handed him a long and official form that his parents must
sign. Fizz is totally dejected. They would fill it in with his now-derided name,
and besides, he wants the book now.
So Fizz agrees to let two old
people fill in the form, using a false, ordinary name – John Smith – and he lets
them claim they are his grandparents. Oh dear! Once outside, Fizz finds he is
in their power.
The two Stinkthrottles
grow nastier, in true Dahlesque style. They terrify poor Fizz, insisting he is
a lying thief who stole a book, and take him to their house. Their home is
disgustingly, overwhelmingly dirty (Warning: The book is best not read by adults alongside any food or meal)
and Fizz is now their servant. Even worse, Fizz realises that his parents do
not know knows where he is!
In the middle of the dump that is the Stinkthrottle home,
Fizz discovers Kevin, a boy kidnapped a few days before. The pair are
suitably stoical, brave and resourceful and, by the inevitable rescue, true
friends.
However, what this account
of the plot does not tell you is the way the book is written.
This is a story
that delights in expanding its telling. Much as in Philip Ardagh or Lemony
Snickett’s writing, there is a great deal of “authorial presence.”
Whole paragraphs are given
over to the explanation of words or the expansion of an idea and the closing of
a chapter and so on. Harrold, being a poet, uses words almost for the sake of
the words, as well as brackets and asides and all sorts of similar literary
devices.
At times, the writing gets
almost to the point of overbalancing - or so one worries – but the reader is kept
going by the simplicity and fun (and disgusting details) of the basic plot as
well as the appeal of Fizz as the central character.The children who chatted to me about the book enjoyed this wildly wordy style tremendously.
Who is it for? Fizzlebert Stump, the Boy
Who Ran Away from the Circus (and
Joined The Library) seems
to me to be the kind of book that would be a delightful holiday for a middle
grade reader. It might also be the kind of book that a grown-up could read
aloud and share with slightly younger readers.
Finally, here's a sample of the style, here’s the
start of Harrold’s description of the Stinkthrottles home. I couldn’t bring
myself to type out any of the more gruesome description, though.
“Their house looked just
like the set of a disaster film, just after all the big action has happened. To
call it untidy would be an understatement of monstrous proportions. In fact to
call it untidy would be a bigger lie than the fib Mrs Stinkthrottle had just
told Fizz about the library. If there is a word which describes quite how much
of a tip their house was I don’t know it (I looked) but I imagine it would be
spelt with a lot more letters than just the six that make up the unsatisfactory
word “untidy.”
If you know a child that likes words and humour,, this may be the book for them.
FIZZLEBERT STUMP:
The Boy Who Ran Away From the Circus
(And Joined The Library).
A.F. Harrold.
(Bloomsbury)
Review by Penny Dolan
www.pennydolan.com
Return to REVIEWS HOMEPAGE
