Bethan Clarke Books

Gus the Goat wants to play and his friend Mavis Mole is happy to agree. There’s one problem – what shall they play? Whack-a-moley? Crack-a-moley? Quack-a-moley or Stack-a-moley? Unfortunately, all Gus’s outlandish ideas aren’t so much fun for Mavis. But then Mavis retaliates with her own outrageous ideas that aren’t so much fun for Gus. After a lot of false starts, they finally settle for something much calmer and their friendship is saved.

Vividly funny illustrations by Anders Frang bring the story to life visually. The expressions of the animals show perfectly their growing frustration with each other. They also illustrate the way everyone loves to watch an argument – throughout the book, two cheeky squirrels follow proceedings intently. The story is all about consideration for others and finding compromise but you will have oodles of fun along the way.

If you read it aloud more than once, encourage joining in with the silliest bits. There’s stacks of slapstick humour and lots of cheerful wordplay with rhymes and puns, making it a great choice for a rumbustious storytime.