Mr Brown's Bad Day

By Author / Illustrator

Lou Peacock, Alison Friend

Genre

Funny Stories

Age range(s)

Publisher

Nosy Crow Ltd

ISBN

9781788003988

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

05-03-2020

Synopsis

A terrifically funny tale about a tiger's very unlucky day! Mr Brown is a Very Important Tiger who works in a Very Important Office. He carries a Very Important Briefcase and does Very Important Things all day long. But when his Very Important Briefcase goes missing, Mr Brown's world is turned upside down. He goes on a VERY wild chase all over town, but will he ever get his briefcase back? And what about the Very Important Things inside?

A wonderfully witty madcap adventure with inventive twists and turns, a series of unlucky events, a comic chase and a brilliant and reassuring surprise ending, perfect for bedtime. Illustrator Alison Friend fills every page with beautifully detailed artwork and lots of funny animal characters - children will love picking their favourites! With plenty of repeated patterns and phrases, little ones will love joining in with the storytelling, as well as watching poor Mr Brown transform from uptight businessman to untidy mess! At the end of the story, Mr Brown finally reveals himself to be a very sweet and relatable character . . . who loves his bedtime above all else!

Every Nosy Crow paperback picture book comes with a free 'Stories Aloud' audio recording - just scan the QR code and listen along!

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Reviews

Mr Brown's Bad Day is a simply lovely story that jumps off the shelf. All children will delight with the adventures of Mr Brown and sympathise with his bad day. I very much enjoyed reading this story with my children.

Mr Brown has a terrible day. He is a very important business man/tiger and carries a very important briefcase with very important things inside. But no matter how busy he is, he always goes to the park for his lunch. However, it is here that his very important briefcase is accidentally picked up by a baby elephant in a pram. Mr Brown chases it through the park and just as he is about to get it back, it is accidentally picked up by others animals. Eventually, poor Mr Brown, exhausted from his race around the park, finally collects his very important briefcase from a group of school children and goes home. When home, he reveals the very important items in his very important briefcase. And they are very important indeed!

I absolutely love the illustrations for this story. Mr Brown in his suit, tie and hat are fantastic, especially with him becoming more dishevelled as the story continues; he very much resembles many adults at the end of a working day. The animals in the story all look so human with animated faces and clothing that make this story very accessible for young readers. I always love a picture book with little details I notice every time I read it and on our third read, my six year old son noticed the pigeon pooing on poor Mr Brown; this humour in the story has already made it a favourite read.

This story is perfect for an early year's environment as there are many talking points, for example ordering the different animals that take the briefcase. In particular, a lesson on the contents of his briefcase would lead perfectly into 'what important items would you put in your briefcase?'

A delightful story that I think has a slight undertone message for grownups; that grownups carry important things around with them all day both physical and mental, and although they might not seem important to others, it doesn't mean they are not important.

Picture book / Ages 4+ / Reviewed by Joanna Hewish, teacher