Review of The Great Gurning Glitch - Benny's Brave Adventures

[Rebecca De Figueiredo]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Great Gurning Glitch - Benny's Brave Adventures" by Hong Z. McCormick.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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Title: The Great Gurning Glitch - Benny's Brave Adventures
Author: Hong Z. McCormick

The art of contorting one's face to look as absurd as possible is a tradition that began in Egremont, England, in 1267, over a thousand years ago. This strange practice, gurning, amusing to children, is used here to help raise money for the little boy to pay for veterinary help for his ailing puppy, Rusty. Ollie the Owl suggests this course of action after the animals in the forest run out of ideas for raising the much-needed funds for the vet. Incorporating a little piece of history into this book is a good idea, and it might prompt children into thinking about such a long-ago time as 1267.

I love the messages in the book. Kindness, community, thoughtfulness, love, and 'thinking outside the box' are messages that come across. The animals all come together and find a novel way of achieving a result, and it works. At the beginning of the book, the young reader will be worried and sad for Rocky and relieved with the happy ending.

The illustrations are lovely, wondrous, dreamlike, and similar to a movie screen. The characters are depicted very lifelike, with huge heads and eyes that are normal for children's book illustrations. I love the happy expressions and the way the light has been used. The picture on page 44 is slightly odd, with a seemingly extra mouth, but perhaps that's just me.

The prose is simple and easy for a child to read, and I found no grammatical errors to spoil it. If an adult reads it to a young child, there is a chance to play around with different voices, which is fun.

This book is one of many in a series called Benny's Brave Adventures, so there is a chance to collect more. There is a link for more information.

This delightful little book was enjoyable, and I did not find anything to dislike. I will award five stars out of five.

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The Great Gurning Glitch - Benny's Brave Adventures
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