Trouble is... (The Trouble with Mum - Babette Cole)

Member Name: juicy_lucy

Product:	The Trouble with Mum - Babette Cole
Date:	30/05/07 (115 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Amusing story

Disadvantages: None

An amusing book in which a little boy is having "problems" with his mum.

The book starts with the words "The trouble with mum is the hats she wears. There is the little boy resplendent i shorts looking helplessly at mum who is indeed wearing a rather fabulous witch hat, complete with a mouse peering over the brim, and a snake entwined around the point.

When he starts school, the other children give him funny looks, and at first, children can't see why until we spot them, high in the sky, riding on a broomstick. Yes, mum is a witch! Mum has kept dad pickled in a jar "Pickled husband 1982" and won't let him out until he stops going to the pub.

When asked to make cakes for the school fete, mum of course makes them in her cauldron. Although they were by normal standards a disaster, the children loved them, because out of the cakes jumped all manner of small creatures, making all of the other adults cough and splutter.

When the children ask to come to the house, shown as a typical haunted castle, their parents forbid it, but they come along anyway and have a fabulous time with the weird and wonderful pets (all huge) and the grandmother who typifies children's impression of a witch, complete with black cat on her lap. Unfortunately, the other parents, being disapproving types, take their children home, and we see them berating mum- for what we can't work out, because she seemed the model mum, serving cakes and ensuring the children had a good time.

So, we have a very sad mum, and a group of friends who are not allowed to go round to play anymore.

This is where mum comes into her own; the school catches fire and mum beat all the fire engines to the school (a broomstick is usually faster than a fire engine). When she casts her magic spell, it starts to rain, and that's the end of the fire. Of course the other parents are ever so grateful, and "Now we all go wild at my house"

~~Illustrations~~

The illustrations are quite humorous, and children will enjoy looking at and commenting on them. Mum and gran look like typical witches, and children will have no trouble realising that they are supposed to be witches. The pets are all over sized- huge spider- but the way they have been portrayed shows that they may be hairy and slimy (depending on the pet) but they are not at all scary.

All of the illustrations are bright and bold, and we can tell our own story using the pictures. there is lots of detail, so lots for children to discuss and look for; children being very observant, they will usually find the little bits of detail I haven't noticed.

the pictures follow no distinct format and are therefore sometimes double page spreads and sometimes in a box, but always the text is written close to the or in the picture, making it easy to read and to follow.

~~Other bits of information~~

Published 1983

Available in paperback and hard back versions, as well as a mini version.



~~Other books by the same author~~

Babette Cole has written many books for young children, including:

The Trouble with Gran
The Trouble with Grandad
The Trouble with dad
Princess smartypants
The Smelly Book
The Hairy Book

~~What I think of the book~~

I would recommend this book for children form about the age of 4 up to about 7 years.

The book is amusing and the pictures are detailed enough toget children talking about them. The concept is funny, and children realise straight away that mum is a witch- thankfully there is a happy ending because we do feel a bit sad for mum when she is trying her best and still gets into trouble.

For anyone who has enjoyed the "Trouble with..." books, I would recommend this a s a good read aloud and enjoy story, and one which children will usually read again.

Thanks for reading.

Daniela x

Summary: Good read aloud story