Fungus the Bogeyman

Oh Fungus, how I love thee.

I remembered this book as a child, as an adult I had to find a copy and I did. The book was more a revelation this time around.

Fungus lives an ordinary life, he gets up, gets prepared for work, makes the commute, does his job and wonders what is it all about? That is what I loved this time around, Fungus did not know why he scares people, why he puts boils on them and why he does this day after day.

While Fungus tries to figure life out, we are treated to an exploration of his world. We learn the many ways bogeymen relax from fishing to gardening, to drinking at the local pub. We even have a lesson in bogeymen relationships and it is all done with a deft touch of humour.

The pictures are fantastic and this show more is a gem of a book. This book was first produced in 1977 and it really is remarkable for its time.

It is not for everyone's taste, I mean you have to be keen on slime, pus and muck but hey, that is what makes a bogeyman happy. show less

Utterly sublime. Accurately described on Backlisted as "the children's Anatomy of Melancholy". At one level wallowing in awful grossness of the sort that kids adore, at another an account of a midlife crisis. What a remarkable work and one that I can't really imagine a publisher signing off on today.

A book that no child should be without. A book to pore over and find new details in. Briggs does a great job of bringing home to you how alien the bogeymen are. Reading it as an adult I got more of the humour, like the censored umbilical cord. The story follows Fungus as he goes about his night while quietly having an existential crisis. There's an interesting commentary on the British class system.

Typical Briggs - sly humour, pathos, a moral that is so well woven into the story that it isn't moralising. Oh, and a funny story and great illustrations. Clever, clever, clever

Fungus and his bogeyman friends are the cause of all the gross and upsetting things in the world, though those of us who live Up Top know little of their lives. This book sets out to remedy that. So here’s a little sample of this comic:

Fungus inspects his trousers which have been marinading overnight. “Mmmm! These really stink!”

Here’s another as Fungus performs his daily ablutions:

“Ah! Nice cold filthy water! Good head of scum on it this morning.”

You get the idea. Boils...dung...muck...every sort of disgusting thing is in this book.

A 1001 Children’s Book You Must Read.

recommended in BookTalk by Aidan Chambers, not in ILL
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bought on half.com
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read. Ug. I mean, I guess if you're into things that are either existentialist or grody, sure, it's clever. But basically it's a lot like [b:Gnomes|926908|Gnomes|Wil Huygen|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1400977076s/926908.jpg|2653871] only denser and dirtier. Fungus doesn't get anywhere with his angst - but then he wouldn't, in only one day, would he? Now, if this were the Field Guide (a la' [b:Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You|277187|Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You|Holly Black|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388374469s/277187.jpg|2410851]) to a series about Bogeys, it might show more have more value to me. 2.5 stars rounded up because it is clever and creative, which counts for a lot in my opinion. show less

This book is about a Bogeyman whos name is Fungus. Fungus and his family go around scaring kids or simply grossing them out by the green sticky slime, and simply saying BOO. I choose this book because it was differnt from all the other kinds of books that are graphic novels. it isn't really a book I would read to a child unless they know that the Bogeyman really doesnt exsist. The images and drawings in this book are some od the most innteresting ones I have seen in a book. Each frame is soo detailed you could look at it ten different times and pick something new out each time.

A teacher may use this book in the classroom to introduce graphic novels because its an easy read and will most likely keep the kids attention. As a classroom show more activity each student could draw a frme or two of thier own that they would add to the book. This activity could also be counted as a art activity as well as their reading one! show less