The grumpalump (Reading together at home) - Softcover

Barbara Firth lives in Harrow, Middlesex, England. She has been honored with many awards including the 1998 Kate Greenway Medal for Can't You Sleep, Little Bear? by Martin Waddell. Sarah Hayes lives with her family in Oxfordshire, England. She is the author of many books for children--among them, Eat Up, Gemma and Happy Christmas Gemma with illustrations by Jan Omerod.

"Hayes' cumulative tale, an exploration of sound and rhyme, will delight the lap audience; it might also provide entertainment for new readers who will appreciate the large typeface and ample white space. Firth's pen-and-ink drawings, washed with color, create bold vistas on the double-page spreads, reflecting the buoyant, active rhymes." Booklist, ALA

"Even listeners too young to know the difference between a gnu and a yak will love the sounds of this cumulative tale, as a parade of animals confronts the mysterious grumpalump, which just lies there-a big multicolored pile of stuff-resisting the animals' attempts to get it to do something but grump. . . . Large print and lots of defining white space make this a terrific just-one-more for storytime." The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"In cumulative style, a succession of animals climb on a 'grumpalump' (it seems to be a gaily colored mound of fabric): 'The bear stared, the cat sat, the mole rolled, the dove shoved. . . .' The gnu, however, blew until-after some astonishing transformations-the 'grumpalump began to grin' and then becomes an airship in which the gnu takes off. The delicious, remarkably concise wordplay is ably supported by Firth's deftly limned art, in which each beast has an appropriately comic character and the surprise unfolds at just the right moment." Kirkus Reviews with Pointers