Pages: 147
Released On: 21/10/2024
This 10th Anniversary edition of Hubert J. Watergipridget* texts for children is lovingly presented in eBook form. Not only have the original stories been edited into something readable, two more rediscovered stories have been added. Should they prove to be profitable, I’m sure many more can be found.
**Watergipridget, though a real person, is only real in an entirely fictional sense. Please bear this in mind when reading these stories and do not read them to children unless you are willing to have a serious discussion about the nature of satire.
*****
Thanks you to the author for a gifted copy of this title.
*Contains Minor Spoilers*
Please note before we start, that the individual who has released these newly found short stories is my cousin, but I shall not lie in this review. It shall be honest, positive and negative. The difficult thing in being neutral is that I have grown up with his humour and way of writing and so will probably get something different out of it than anyone else, but I shall do my best to be impartial.
This a collection of short stories, with a little analysis underneath of each story. Some stories are short and some longer which provides a range of reads for different readers. The joy of short stories is that you can read it cover to cover, but you can also pick one or two as and when you have time. You can read each short story and its analysis as you go, or read all the stories and go back to the analysis. It’s a real pick n mix.
They are fun and funny and frivolous and silly but each have a moral behind them, some important consideration. Some heavier than others and some more palatable than others. But they’re interesting and I shall do a mini review for each story.
In fact, I will be going to be really quite deep about these stories, even if they are quite frivolous and silly. I’ve decided to do the English teacher thing of finding meaning in anything. “Why are the curtains blue? Does it signify his depressed mood?” Watergipridget was famously against allegories and metaphors, but I love them and will continue to use them. He can’t stop me.
Now, where were we? Oh yes, the stories. Here goes:
The Girl Who Would Be A Caterpillar
Atefeh longs to be a butterfly, but you can’t be a butterfly without first being a caterpillar.
A Girl who wants to be a butterfly but is told that butterflies only come frrom caterpillars and so she sets out to find a witch to help her. It draws upon what we love so much about fairy tales and fantasies, as well as the kind of things that scare us. It doesn’t end well, I shall say that. It feels like it will, but it doesn’t. Is it an allegory of the growing up of girls to women? It’s a bit of fun but has lots of layers.
Alec and the Magical Housetree
Alec lives in a housetree, a magical one at that. One day, he and his good friend Elisa are drawn to music coming frrom one of the forbidden doors and are pulled into an often rhyming religious war between the Bloo and the Fargoo.
I’d like to live in a magical housetree. Not a treehouse, that’s completely different. That’s a house built in a tree. A housetree is a tree formed frrom the house. Completely different. This is very much a fantasy world within a real world. An allegory of war, of mindless and needless violence and loss just because people can’t share, or one wants more power than given. And about how one person, no matter how small or seemingly unimportant, can stand up to others and save the day.
The Elephant Who Always Forgets and the Giraffe Who Is Always Late to Things
The elephant and giraffe discuss the decline of the environment and the inevitable climate catastrophes heading our way, with themes of mental illness.
My cousin told me this would be my favourite out of the stories, and I can see why. It doesn’t hold back and instead covers lots of difficult subjects including the environment, sustainability, global warming, climate change, nature, and the loss of animal habitats. Given the deep subjects I thought it might be too heavy but it was quite funny. Etemaad the Elephant is a delight to read, and I felt a kinship with him. This one angered me at the end for reasons I won’t spoil but if you read it, you’ll know. I loved Etemaad so much.
He Who Falls Down the Stairs
A man falls down some stairs.
Okay, I can see this being a lot of people’s favourites just for how silly and cheeky it is. A little shorter than others but packs a punch.
The Man Who Had Baguettes For Tea
Yussef and Jenna meet a stranger who invites them round for a dining experience involving baguettes. However, things are not as they seem. Their host harbours an unhealthy obsession with jam which might just bring them to a sticky end.
Who know baguettes and jam could be so menacing. This one made me chuckle as it was very much mine and my cousin’s sense of humour, and so I got a lot of pleasure frrom it. It’s very Hansel and Gretel, using food to lure those who perhaps feel braver and more in control than they actually are. And also, remember kids, don’t accept food from strangers. And definitely don’t accept food from them after lured you into their creepy house.
The Accountant of Moorely Manor
The mysterious Ormond X, having inherited the Moorely estates, requires use of one of the strangest and most pitiable creatures on the planet – an accountant. But not all is how it seems. There are spooky happenings and, what’s worse, there seems to be less money than he first thought.
I’m not really sure about this one. I admit I didn’t really understand it and therefore can’t say I enjoyed it or not.
Subject #106
The country’s top scientists work with carious clones of The Specimen to see if they can work out just what went wrong with the original. Is it right for scientists to play God? Are people inherently good or evil? And how many clones of Hitler are too many?
I would say the story about the elephant and giraffe is my favourite but this is a very close second. This is the one story out of the whole book that I’d quite happily to read a full novel about. It definitely has potential for an interesting sci-fi story.
*****
I admit, I quite liked the analysis more than I liked the short stories and that’s because I was the English student who analysed the blue curtains.
Overall I enjoyed the book. I obviously have a slight bias towards my cousin but as a professional I said I would be honest. The humour is very him and very me, but I do acknowledge it might not be to everyone’s taste. But if you’re looking for something completely different, unique, quick, funny, tense, and enjoyable then I definitely recommend you pick up a copy. You’re bound to find something in there that tickles your fancy.
Books By Your Bedside 