Mr and Mrs Grunt, who are neither clean nor clever, live with their adopted – in fact, abducted – son, Sunny, in a donkey-drawn caravan somewhere or other at some time that is a bit like now but not exactly now. Sunny is an odd-looking boy, what with his left ear being higher than his right ear and that kind of sticky-up hair which NEVER goes flat, even if you massage glue into it and then jump on it. Together the unusual family find themselves in frankly improbable but very funny adventures involving bendy railings, double-barrelled shotguns, full-fat yoghurt and, always, a beard of bees.
Axel says:
I hadn't done any black and white illustrations for a while when Nosy Crow asked me to do this book - little did I know HOW many illustrations I'd have to do...And the challenges waiting for me: for example, the Grunt's caravan! Authors can just imagine anything - usually they don't care whether it can actually be drawn by a moderately talented illustrator: a caravan, made-up stuff, a garden shed, a motorbike side-car, an old ice cream van, wooden planks and a coffee machine (though I left that out and the editor hasn't seemed to have noticed) - THANK YOU Mr ARDAGH ! Well, I drew something though I can't actually imagine anybody fitting or living in there... but one can always get away with a little cheating.