School Library Journal Review
Gr 2-4-The kingdom of Great Kerfuffle is an interesting place to visit, with a wide range of odd and enthusiastic characters that will keep readers guessing and chuckling. Stinkbomb and Ketchup-Face are a mischief-making brother and sister who are not afraid to make a mess or strike out on their own adventure. While the book has a fair amount of humor, varied text size and type, and amusing black-and-white illustrations, one weakness may prove difficult for new readers: the author makes too ambitious an attempt to break the fourth wall to create a sort of metafictional tale where the characters know they're in a story. Most kids will overlook these as silly asides and read on to learn about the fate of Stinkbomb and Ketchup-Face as they confront the Badgers, who drive cars much too fast, scare innocent chickens, and knock over all the garbage cans. VERDICT A serviceable offering, likely to find fans in the early chapter book crowd.-Ashley Prior, Lincoln Public Library, RIf © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Exuberantly silly from start to finish, this madcap fantasy from British author Dougherty introduces a boy named Stinkbomb and his younger sister, Ketchup-Face, who live on the tiny island of Great Kerfuffle. When Stinkbomb's piggy bank is burgled, he blames badgers ("Think about it. They do bad things because they're badgers. If they weren't bad, they'd just be gers"). But after the siblings travel to the (cottage-size) castle of King Toothbrush Weasel, hoping he will banish badgers from the island, the king instead assigns them that very task. Dougherty packs his story with winking references to adventure story tropes, as well as self-referential, metafictional humor ("Do you mean you're in a story now?" the king asks the children. "Oh, yes," responds Ketchup-Face. "You can tell because of all the chapters and page numbers and stuff"). Between playful typography, a nearly nonstop onslaught of jokes, and Ricks's jittery b&w cartooning, it's a solid choice for readers who have exhausted the Captain Underpants library. Ages 8-12. Author's agent: Julia Churchill, A.M. Heath. Illustrator's agent: Minju Chang, Bookstop Literary. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
