Book Info

Children's Author 'Like-for-Like' recommendations

Synopsis

Vile A Cautionary Tale for Little Monsters by Mark Robinson

Lessons at the University of Vile are strict! With a timetable designed to refine the skills of grabbing, snatching, pushing, shoving, surreptitious tripping and not-paying-attention, pupils must strive to hone their bad manners, poor personal hygiene and repulsive habits. Graduation depends on pupils demonstrating their monstrosity at all times. Those who don't meet the grade are destined for things far worse - disqualification and quick enrollment at the dreaded Academy of Manners! With a revolting cast of nasties, brought to life by Sarah Horne's scratchy illustrations, this mischievous picture book demonstrates that perhaps life's not so great when spent solely in the pursuit of vileness -

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Reviews

A wild and crazy picture book, with plenty of action and excitement at every turn - There's a strong sense of rhythm and rhyme throughout, which helps keep the pace up [and] Sarah Horne's illustrations are suitably gruesome and monstrous - Vile is the sort of picture book that kids love - it's a bit of light-hearted craziness to get you giggling, and is well-worth a look.A The Bookbag This is a terrific cautionary tale for mischievous kids - With rhyming text for parents to read and shorter snippets on every page for the child to join in, this is a great book to read together from 3+ and for kids to enjoy along when they're a little older.A Lovereading4kids If you are under the impression that nothing could be more revolting than the gleefully unbridled imagination of a seven-year-old-boy - prepare yourself for the result of a collision between the gleefully unbridled imaginations of author Mark Robinson and illustrator Sarah Horne [in] this gloriously graphic celebration of utterly disgusting behaviour - Set your own little monsters loose on this one, pretend to be horrified at the contents, and watch the most reluctant readers get stuck in!A Teach Primary The subtitle, 'A Cautionary Tale for Little Monsters', really says it all as a description of this wild and wacky picture book. It is not subtle, it does carry a message about manners and cooperation, but it is fun too. All the polite and friendly monsters of Beastieville go to the School of Manners whilst all the badly-behaved mischief-makers go the University of Vile, where bad manners, poor hygiene and repulsive habits rule. This cheerfully disgusting chaos is reflected in the lively, brightly-coloured and action-packed illustrations. The rhyming text makes this a good read-aloud book and there are short snippets of text, including puns, jokes and sound-effects scattered among the illustrations for children to pick out. This is a light-hearted picture book and the twist on the last page will satisfy all those who enjoy books celebrating bad behaviour rather than reformed characters.A Sue Roe, The School Librarian

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About The Author

As a child, Mark Robinson would only read books by torchlight under the duvet. It is the same mischievous attitude that he brings to his writing. Full of edge and verve, Mark’s playful style particularly appeals to boys. Whilst not writing, Mark competes in marathons and triathlons, and loves cycling (monster hills, no problem). Mark has three children who have excellent manners. But then… he raised them.

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