The Great Smile Robbery by Roger McGough

Friday Old Favourite

This book is just one for fun. It contains wild characters and heaps of jokes (which made me laugh in 1982 and laugh all over again in 2021).

Publisher blurb: "The Stinkers - is there a gang more vile and horrible? No! That's why everybody loves to loathe them."

Emerson is a happy guy. He has his daily routines:

"He brushed his teeth over and under. Washed his face inside and out. Combed his hair through and through until there were no knots. Not any. Not a knot whatsoever on his whatnot. And of course, being the hero of this story, he did all of these things without being told."

The best thing in Emerson's house is his wardrobe of smiles - his smiledrobe. It contains warmhearted, cheeky, shy and sad smiles. Each morning Emerson selects a smile for the day.

Meanwhile we need to meet the horrid Stinkers. Their names are probably descriptive enough - Billy Bogie; King Pong; Sourpuss; Nick O'Teen and Mrs Wobblebottom.

So now the stage is set. The Stinkers decide to rob a bank. Everything goes wrong and Emerson is wrongly accused of the crime. While Emerson waits in jail those wretched Stinkers rob his house and steal all the smiles. Luckily Emerson is the hero of the story (as previously mentioned) and so honesty, truth and justice do win the day and those awful Stinkers get the punishments they deserve.

There are two stories in this series - the second is called Stinkers Ahoy.

This book is long out of print but if you can find a copy it is sure to give you and your young reader a laugh or two. I especially love the cartoon style illustrations by Tony Blundell.

Here is Roger McGough reading one of his poems.