What a Mucky Pup (Mr. Men Library: Mr. Messy Messing About in the Snow - Roger Hargreaves)

Member Name: MI9to5

Product:	Mr. Men Library: Mr. Messy Messing About in the Snow - Roger Hargreaves
Date:	23/04/09 (104 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A really adorable character

Disadvantages: None

From a very young age my mum would religiously buy me a new Mr Men or Little Miss book every week. If I was lucky my grandma would also by me one and so it didn't take me too long to amass the entire collection. The collecting of the books however was only the start as to be completely honest you wouldn't be wrong if you had said I was obsessed with anything remotely Mr Men like. My bedroom was decorated with Mr Men stickers. I had the Mr Men bedding and curtains as well as wall clock, figurines, posters, coat hangers and of course the soft-toys.

My obsession with these wonderful characters therefore was only increased when in 1998 Roger Hargreaves' son Adam Hargreaves released a new story library that gave all fans fantastic new stories about existing characters. I was more than eager to collect the books and again with no time had them all.

When they were first released the Mr Men books had a blue spine with a blue stripe going down the right hand side of the back of the book and down the left hand side of the books front. The Little Miss Stories had the same but in pink making it easy to distinguish between the two. It is these libraries of the books that I have but when I have seen them being sold recently I have seen that both Mr Men and Little Miss ones have a blue stripe - don't ask me why.

Both the new Mr Men library collection and the new Little Miss collection have twelve books. The book I am going to review today is number 11 in the Mr Men collection and is called 'Mr. Messy messing about in the snow'.

The front cover of the book has a picture of Mr Messy looking his usual scruffy self and leaving mucky footprints in some crisp white snow. Above the image is the books title as well as the logo for the new story library. The book cover also displays Roger Hargreaves' name in a small blue box although it is his son Adam who has written the story. This fact is acknowledged inside the books cover.

If you turn the book over you will find smaller pictures of all the other books in both the Mr Men new library and the Little Miss new library. This is a great feature as it makes it really easy to keep track of which stories you have left to buy and read. As well as this the back cover also shows you what all of the books look like when they are put together (a picture appears amongst the spines).

Now that you know all about what the book looks like it is time to find out what the story is all about. As Mr Messy's name tells us, Mr Messy is an extremely messy person and his house is an absolute trash heap. His garden in particular is the messiest in the whole street unlike the beautifully tidy garden next door. When it snowed however you couldn't tell the gardens apart.

With the snow covering the ground Mr Messy decides to have a play in the snow. Of course however everything about this is messy and you should see his garden when he's finished for the day. It's a real...well read the book and see for yourself.

This story is a really bright and colourful one for young children and despite his many faults Mr Messy is such a loveable character that I'm sure all children can relate to at times. All of this makes him a superbly memorable character with the ability to entertain and amuse all those who read about him.

The book itself is printed in the familiar Mr. Men fashion with writing on the right hand side and wonderfully vibrant cartoon style pictures on the left. These pictures lift the words right of the page and into the minds of those that read them. They are also perfect for ensuring that younger children are involved in the story even if they cannot read. The font size is also quite decent and therefore suitable for children learning to read as well as parents and grandparents with visual problems.

This book is simply a delightful read for all Mr. Men fans and I cannot find a single fault with it. It is bright, colourful and vibrant which is everything a children's book needs to be. Better still it has an RRP of £2.99, which for a book isn't too bad. To make things even better it can often be found on offer in supermarkets, in discount book shops and online.

Summary: Mr Messy truly is a fabulous character to read about