Mr. Stink by David Walliams - A Book Review

This is another book I have read with my 5 year old son - for those of you following my blog I promise I do read other books as well! As you may have guessed, the main character is a man who is rather smelly! The story follows a young girl, Chloe, who befriends the local tramp, Mr. Stink, with a lot of fun ensuing. Chloe helps Mr. Stink to integrate back into society whilst he, in turn, helps to piece Chloe's family back together. Along the way we see Chloe turn from a misunderstood reject to a central figure in family life. David Walliams has, in my opinion, a talent for bringing his humour to life in his books in a way which appeals to both children and adults (my wife seemed to enjoy the story as much as my son did!). The ever present shopkeeper, Raj, provides some consistency to the series of books that David Walliams has written. His advice and entrepreneurial spirit provide a large degree of stability whilst adding some light relief to the book. I only wish that my local shop keeper was as charming, wise and helpful as Raj is in these stories. Mr. Stink always seems to be somethin more than simply the smelly tramp of the town and, sure enough, we learn over the course of the book that he is, in fact, a Lord! That said, he lost his family and blames himself and that is why this Lord has turned into a tramp. The story isn't really about Mr. Stink, even though he is one of the two main characters in the book. Instead it is about bringing Chloe's family back together. Her mum ("Mother") turns from a woman obsessed with appearances into a loving parent and wife. The little sister, Anabelle, goes from worst enemy to best friend, etc., etc. The book was, as always with Walliams, one where the pages appeared to turn themselves. That said, David Walliams has a tendency to put long lists of things into his stories. IF you are reading them independently then these probably work however trying to run through three pages worth of someones timetable isn't too much fun to a 5 year old (or myself for that matter!). Overall I would definitely give this book a go, especially if you have already come to love David Walliams' books - something I have inadvertently come to do. As always with this blog the above is my personal opinion and I would love to hear what other poeople think of both the book and author. For anyone interested in reading the story a link to the book on Amazon is below. Cheers, Craig. Mr. Stink