Kate Tenbeth

"Deep in the great forest there was a clearing filled with rays of warm, bright summer sunshine." Thus, with a lovely tone of fairytale, and with descriptive details that magically awaken all the senses, opens this story.

In the center of this story in a pensive goblin named Grum P. Groblin, who has to figure out a way to prove himself, and to prove his bravery to his older brothers, Grimly and Gripe. I found these names to be chosen not only with musical alliteration but with humor, too! show more Which is also true of the illustrations that grace the pages of this book. Done with black pen, they do not overpower the text, but extend it by adding a visual suggestion.

Along the path of his adventure he meets a bear named Burly (notice the musical alliteration again!) and they become best friends. I loved the dialogue between them on their first encounter:

Grumpy wiped his nose with the sleeve of his grey jacket. The bear pulled a face. "What's your name?" he asked.
"Grum P. Groblin."
"Grumpy?" The bear's lips twitched as he tried not to laugh.
"Yes... no... not Graumpy -- Grum P. Groblin."
"Pea?"
Grum sighed. He had this problem all the time. "Groblins always have a secret middle name so I can't tell you what it is but is starts with P."

What more can I say but this: the beauty of this story is in reading it aloud. That is the best way to capture all the hidden clues...
five stars. show less

A very good book for the young ones. I know my daughter was infatuated from the moment she saw Burly and Grum, Even taking her teddy bear and holding on tight to it through the whole book, which was a great thing for her as of late. Her attention span through chaptered books was starting to wan, I'm proud to say that she got a renewed strength The pictures helped a little too.

The story is cute and compelling of a boy, his bear and his groblin. They are always in adventure and constantly in show more trouble like children often are. With the bear being more of the wise old father figure that tries to keep them both on track.

The morals are amazing and something my daughter caught on to quickly. The mixture of thrills, comedy and adventure kept her enthralled and had my daughter begging for more, If anything I am glad to say that it's renewed her love of the chapter books and having mommy breathlessly reading them to her constantly a habit. I have to thank the author for giving us a wonderful story and wonderful characters to which I wish I had my own Burly or Grum to hug and have at night. show less

I received the book free to read and review from Library Thing. The book’s plot revolves around a fifteen-year old girl who owns valuable land, though she does not realize she owns it or its worth, and the treachery used to get the land away from her so the perpetrators can profit from its sale. It begins with Holly Madden pushed off a boat into the Thames River by her step-mother. Jon, who lives nearby, rescues her, unbeknownst to most, and becomes a faithful companion as she endeavors to show more figure out what is going on and why people want to kill her. They pass through numerous dangerous but interesting episodes to uncover the truth behind this mystery. Even though both Holly and Jon, and later her friend Georgie, are teenagers, they unravel the clues in the mystery as well as or even better than the local detectives who are on the case looking for the missing Holly. The author manages to keep their sleuthing well within the bounds of that you would expect from teenagers, which makes the story all the more realistic. All the characters are well developed and interesting. The book held my interest almost from the first page. By the time I had reached the ending, I had only one wish--that the story could go on and on. I am glad I have found one more author whose books I will read and enjoy. show less

This is the third book in the Burly and Grum series and it is as much fun as the others. Again Kate Tenbeth has hit the mark on filling this book with fun, excitement, mystery and drama for kids of all ages 4 to 104 and beyond.

In this adventure it is Burly’s the Bear birthday and Mike the Angel wants to give him the best birthday ever. It starts out with Burly and Grum the Goblin taken to the beach by Mike. They have never seen the beach or ocean before. The three of them have lunch and show more then Mike has work he has to do for his “Boss” so he leaves Burly and Grum for a quiet day on the island. It doesn’t take long for them to get into trouble because of course the deserted island isn’t deserted. The book ends with a big birthday party for Burly, with all his friends there, Grum the Goblin, Mike the Angel, Max the young Human, and some new friends they meet on the island.

I loved this book as much as I have all of her books. Again, she has given us a new fresh storyline with a fell good ending and a fun adventure. I have reviewed all of the Burly and Grum books and you can read them all on this site.

I recommend this book and all of her books to anyone who wants a fun short read. All of her books are around 40 pages long but she sure knows how to pack a lot of fun in a very short time. It has wonderful illustrations by Rob Jones…I wish there were more, a lot more and Kate’s witting is great.

Kate Tenbeth also gives a donation to the Born Free Foundation for each book that is purchased. So how can you go wrong…buying her stories not only do you get a fun filled story that will make you smile (a lot) you are also contributing to a great foundation. show less