ReadItDaddy's Picture Book of the Week - Week Ending 5th July 2019: "Fungus the Bogeyman" by Raymond Briggs (Picture Puffin)

Oh my! I'd completely forgotten about this week's picture book of the week, until C discovered it languishing in a dark grime-infested corner of the library, hidden underneath a pile of cobwebs and discarded lizard skins (actually it wasn't - our Library is lovely, but this was definitely a well-loved copy barely holding together as we read it).

"Fungus the Bogeyman" by Raymond Briggs recently celebrated its 35th Anniversary (which technically means I must've been far too old for it when I first read it to my little brother) but of course it goes without saying that the mix of glorious grime and grimness brought to green-hued life so expertly by Raymond has stuck in the memory for a very long time.

In fact I wasn't quite sure C would like this one at all. It's a weird book, more like the insane journal scribblings of a crazy old monster as he rumbles and rambles, poots and farts his way through an average monstery day.

Fungus and his 'gorgeous' wife live a very happy life in their mucky house. Their son knows better than to come to the table for dinner with clean nails and teeth though!

I think despite the haphazard nature of this, it wins out purely because it came out at a time when 'diaries' were quite the thing (Adrian Mole, I blame you!) and it taps into that part of a child's psyche where the idea of leading a grimy slimy gross-out life is still hugely attractive (yes, even C would probably go for months without a bath if she could avoid it - You know what it's like when kids get to that 'pongy' age, ewww!)

This is glorious though, and I still think to this day that though Shrek was also based on a book, a lot of the ideas that turned up in the movie were stolen wholesale from this book. It's disgustingly hilarious, brutally brilliant and grimly grimy as ever.

Sum this book up in a sentence: If you've a penchant for bogie sandwiches, or love nothing better than lounging in a bath full of slime, and you have three weird nipples (!) this is the book for you!

"Fungus the Bogeyman" by Raymond Briggs is out now, published by Picture Puffin (loaned from the library, not supplied for review).