Review: The Bugalugs Bum Thief by Tim Winton

There are two things you can do when it turns out that one of your favourite authors of Literary Fiction is also the author of a children's book about bums that you never read when you were a kid because they never had a copy in your school library. You can shrug your shoulders, say, 'That's cool' and move on with your life. Or you can do what I did, and hunt down a copy on Booktopia, read it and then write a review, because I genuinely think that it's awesome that not only did Tim Winton write this, but that Penguin books published it and it's been reissued a couple of times. 

Anyway ... The Bugalugs Bum Thief. Skeeta is just an ordinary kid who wakes up one summer morning to make a startling discovery. His bum is gone. Missing. There's just this big hollow where it used to be and now he can't sit and he's having trouble keeping his pyjama pants up. Things soon get worse when he discovers that his parents are both missing their bums. And so too are all of the residents of Bugalugs, a small fishing town with some amusing characters. Anyway, Skeeta is soon on the case to find the missing bums--and the outcome is absolutely hilarious.

This was a short, funny read the kind that although it is pitched at emerging readers is one of those books that can still be enjoyed by kids who are a bit older too. The storytelling reminded me a bit of Roald Dahl, with lots of funny bits and a few sections that are delightfully scary--in that way that kids like to be scared, especially when they know there's a good joke coming up at the end. I loved the illustrations as well, in particular the ones that showed the characters with hollowed out areas where their bums should be. Overall, this is a lot of good fun, a great one to share with kids, especially as it will probably leave any grown up readers with a bit of a smile on their face. 

As for me, an adult who read it in her living room with my cat on one side, and a bottle of Strongbow white on the other, I rather enjoyed it.

Recommended.

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