Children’s Book Review UK

Megan Says:

Daddy said he would read us two story books at bedtime tonight and we had Mr Gumpy’s Outing. I like this book because Granny always reads it to us. My Gumpy takes a lot of animals in a boat and they all fall in the water. I fell in the water a lot today because me and Jack went down my slide into the paddling pool. It was funny.

Daddy Says:

Mr Gumpy’s Outing is one of those children’s books from the 1970s that has probably become a classic. The illustrations remind me of all my books when I was little and I think that the children find them a nice change from the brash cartoon pictures and CGI images that they see daily. The story is of a man and his boat and a lot of other characters who wish to join him. A great list of passengers builds up to a great peak where, you’ve guessed it, all the things that Mr Gumpy feared come true. The language is fun to read and listen to as the story builds up to the inevitable river disaster. The unflappable Mr Gumpy is unfazed by all this and, as in all good stories for young children, they all go home for tea. Definitely a classic by our standards.