This is another of fils cadet‘s library books from the other day, but he has so far refused to actually read it! Fortunately, fils aîné has taken a shine to it instead. Written by Peter Bentley, the winner of last year’s Roald Dahl Funny Prize for Cats Ahoy, it’s the story of Ogden the Ogre who realises that
“his jim-jams had grown far too short and too tight.
The people said, “Jim-jams too tight and too short? Overweight ogres should take up a sport.”
So that’s what he does. Or tries to. But it’s not that easy to find the right sport for an enormous ogre and Ogden’s efforts to get fit soon end up almost demolishing the entire town.
Simon Rickerty’s simple, stylised illustrations are very appealing – we also liked his pictures in Alan Durant’s Unfortunately – and there are plenty of fun things to spot. Look out for where the horses hide when Ogden considers becoming a jockey… There’s a good rhythm to the rhyming text and it makes a gently humerous introduction to the idea of healthy eating and exercise.
The Yoga Ogre (Simon and Schuster, 2012) by Peter Bentley, illustrated by Simon Rickerty
a discount ticket to everywhere 