Thimble Wonga Bonkers
Publisher: Firefly
Going to the supermarket should be a fairly uneventful activity, unless you are Jams Cogan. In his case there is rarely anything uneventful about life – particularly since the family unit includes a monkey called Thimble.
When Mum escapes on a spa trip with her friends, a simple excursion for provisions results in one absurd and highly entertaining predicament after another for Jams and his hapless dad. With barely a pause for breath, the outlandish drama sees them carrying a sawn-off telegraph pole into a police station, trying to retrieve a key that’s been swallowed by Thimble and defending themselves against a strange cult who believe the monkey is the chosen one. All disconcertingly run-of-the-mill activities for this family.
This is the latest in the series of accessible but satisfying books about Thimble and family. Packed with farcical capers and groan-worthy gags, and with equally high-energy illustrations, it’s an unusual and utterly fun-filled read. Jams happens to use a walker (he has cerebral palsy) but this is largely incidental to the story.