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Find your new favourite book or recommend one on our Book forum.

Original poster

Find this book? About not brushing your teeth and blackberries!

22 replies

BrianWankum · 12/12/2022 20:11

This is a "learning to read" type book about a boy who eats blackberries, doesn't brush his teeth and then brambles grow out of his mouth. Anyone have any idea?

OP posts:
Clarabellawilliamson · 12/12/2022 20:17

Oh! I read that! I can't bloody remember what it was called though so I will follow eagerly to find out...

Original poster
BrianWankum · 12/12/2022 22:49

Oh well at least it is actually real, wondered whether my boyfriend had dreamt it 😁

OP posts:
Motorcycleemptyness · 19/12/2022 16:51

Did you ever find the title of this book? It definitely existed as I can SEE the pic of the child growing brambles in his mouth in my mind! It’s driving me nuts. Have a feeling it could have been part of a longer story about naughty children getting their comeuppance?

JudgementalCentipede · 19/12/2022 18:06

This has stirred up a distant memory... Are you sure it was a book and not a poem?

Original poster
BrianWankum · 20/12/2022 21:05

The boyfriend says it's a book for 'remedial' readers (his mum was a teacher). I guess it may have been a poem or part of a series.

It made him scared of blackberries for years 😂rather than making him brush his teeth 😂

OP posts:
WhatWouldHopperDo · 20/12/2022 21:09

I definitely remember reading something like this when I was young and I am 50. Now I’m annoyed that I can’t remember/find it!!

Newuser82 · 20/12/2022 21:11

Ah I read that too as a kid!!

Motorcycleemptyness · 20/12/2022 21:27

@Jennyz123 I think that is it! I definitely remember reading that book in the 90s!

Original poster
BrianWankum · 20/12/2022 21:59

Jennyz123 · 20/12/2022 21:08

I don't think this can be it, because it doesn't seem to have been published until 1990 and I don't think my boyfriend would have been as traumatised aged 20 😁

OP posts:
RuthW · 20/12/2022 22:08

I'm 54 and I remember it. No idea what it was though.

Jennyz123 · 20/12/2022 22:19

Motorcycleemptyness · 20/12/2022 21:27

@Jennyz123 I think that is it! I definitely remember reading that book in the 90s!

Glad it's not just me imagining it! Our teacher read the whole book as a class story and I thought it was the best thing ever 😀

Jennyz123 · 20/12/2022 22:21

BrianWankum · 20/12/2022 21:59

I don't think this can be it, because it doesn't seem to have been published until 1990 and I don't think my boyfriend would have been as traumatised aged 20 😁

Show quote history

Ah fair enough, apologies! Clearly every generation needs a warning about the perils of blackberry eating and poor dental hygiene 😬

Original poster
BrianWankum · 20/12/2022 22:32

It's a recurring problem 😂

OP posts:
Motorcycleemptyness · 20/12/2022 22:42

Ha oh dear, it was driving me crazy but I do think that was the book I was thinking about (right date - I would have read it in the 90s and in my head it was part of a bigger story about badly behaved children). HOWEVER it is a compilation of stories by different authors so is it possible that the story about the boy not brushing his teeth was published in another format earlier, and then re-published as part of this book?

(I am very invested in this now!)

stickybear · 20/12/2022 22:43

It's not in The Twits or something similar is it? I can also see the picture in my head!

Clarabellawilliamson · 21/12/2022 07:20

That's the right one for me, thanks @Jennyz123 I m going to buy a copy for my children, it looks just right for my daughter!

Jennyz123 · 21/12/2022 17:30

Clarabellawilliamson · 21/12/2022 07:20

That's the right one for me, thanks @Jennyz123 I m going to buy a copy for my children, it looks just right for my daughter!

Oh good! I kept a copy I loved it so much and will definitely be reading it with my LO when she's the right age. The stories are just brilliant!

Original poster
BrianWankum · 25/12/2022 20:13

Oh well, after telling me about it, he asked his mum if she remembered it … she didn’t at the time, but had a think and surprised him with it as a Christmas present today! It’s Happy Endings: Stories Old and New, by Wendy Craig 😁

OP posts:
Clarabellawilliamson · 29/12/2022 17:03

I received my copy of Naughty stories today- the story we were thinking of is called Freddy the toothbrush cheat by..... Wendy Craig! So we WERE all thinking of the same story after all!!

Original poster
BrianWankum · 29/12/2022 22:48

Oh wow 😂That's funny! Well done @Jennyz123 !

OP posts:
Jennyz123 · 08/01/2023 17:15

Just spotted this - no way!! Glad the mystery has been solved 😂Enjoy the stories @Clarabellawilliamson - my favourite as a kid was always the one with the bogeyman, used to have me in stitches!

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