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Sir Charlie Stinky Socks and the Tale of the Terrible Secret by Kristina Stephenson (view source)
Revision as of 11:10, 10 April 2018
, 11:10, 10 April 2018no edit summary
{{infoboxinfobox2
|title=Sir Charlie Stinky Socks and the Tale of the Terrible Secret
|author=Kristina Stephenson
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=978-1405253970
|pages=32
|publisher=Egmont Books Ltd
|date=November 2011
|amazonukaznuk=<amazonuk>1405253975</amazonuk>|amazonusaznus=1405253975|cover=<amazonus>1405253975</amazonus>
|website=
|video=
Now, Sir Charlie is a very brave young knight and he will need to be, because to be quite honest with you, this book is a little bit scary in places – to the point where we have all decided that this is not a ''bedtime'' book in our house. When our hero and his chums reach the creepy castle, they must enchant the gargoyles, making them sing before Sir Charlie can chop his way through the dangerous weeds. And when Master Stinky Socks suddenly falls into the dungeon, we had a moment of relatively high anxiety for a four year old, but thankfully, the author has the presence of mind to give Charlie (and the listener) something to do (and think about) other than the fact he has actually fallen into a dungeon, by making him uncover a ''terrible'' secret (which actually is key to the story's ''message'' – in that it really turns out to be not so terrible after all), but I won't spoil the surprise that unfurls from this beautiful book like a treasure map (or, if you need something more realistic to compare it to mums and dads, think ''Michelin Routemap of Southern Provence'' or ''The Illustrated British Ordnance Survey of Cornish B Roads'') as that's half the fun in reading it.
With gloriously long and engaging sentences that sprawl across the flappage, both you and your little one cannot fail to be captivated by this book. That said and as mentioned previously, it's not a bedtime read (for one, it's too long for the end of the day in my humble opinion) because more relevantly to us, the new and interesting ''monsters du jour'' – the Gargoyles – needed some explanation and a creepy castle is not really the kind of mental territory I want to introduced to my daughter just before she closes her eyes (''castles'', for my daughter, are mostly pink and are where princesses in pretty dresses live). However, as a daytime read or a group read, it's utterly perfect, because the flaps require quite some going over to consume every morsel of fabulousness and there is plenty of fun in squidging up against your best friend and squealing in shared delighted horror.
This is my first ''Stinky Socks'' outing, but I'm told that the ''Sir Charlie Stinky Socks'' (isn't that just the most irresistible name to have if you are a pre-schooler?) books are a huge hit with the boys – presumably in the same way that all the female focused pre-schooler icons like ''Dora'' are a massive hit with the girls – and I can quite see why… Sir Charlie is easy to identify with and his heroic escapades are eminently ''emulate-able'' and that, my friends, is a winning formula.
By way of further reading, I would suggest [[Don't Invite Dinosaurs To Dinner by Neil Griffiths and Peggy Collins]] because it, too, is riotously colourful and more of the same flap-filled fun. Similarly, if these flappy books are your little ones' thing you ought to take a look at [[We're Going to a Party! by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross]] because it is ever such fun trying to figure out who is wearing what fancy dress outfit.
Lastly, we at Bookbag would like to extend our thanks to the kind ladies and gents at Egmont Books for sending us this copy to review."
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