Fattypuffs and Thinifers

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And it took a war as well as a lot of argument before the boys could teach them to agree about anything. As it points out in an introduction that I think has been added since I used to read it as a child, this book also has some strong points to make about tolerance which are very important in this troubled world. It is accepted by you that Daunt Books has no control over additional charges in relation to customs clearance. A timeless fable, one to read to the kids in bed which will leave mum and dad equally entertained and enthralled as a reflection of the equally insane world they are growing up in today.

Consequently, the Thinifer president proclaims that the two peoples form a new nation, the United States of the Underground.The title - Fattypuffs and Thinifers, will lock-down her attention like the offer of letting her have a sleepover, and though the main two protagonists are boys, the character of their plump mum will strike a chord. Very sadly she did not survive many years into my life and the flow of wonderful books, at least from that source, dried up all too soon.

We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. The underground region is illuminated by large balloons filled with a blue, dazzling gas, which float in the underground sky. If a book sticks in your mind so strongly that you spend more than 20 years trying to find it again thats a darn strong recommendation to it. Each boy is taught the history of the Fattypuff and Thinifer societies and also taught about their mutual intolerance of each other.

The Thinifers are hectic, eat to live types, who manufacture thin things like wire and spaghetti, while their rivals the Fattypuffs are expansive and have an economy based around the production of rounded and full figured objects like sausages and tyres. When I read this story originally as an 8 year old, I loved it - it's one of the few children's books I still own in my mid-30s and which is read to baby cousins, godchildren, etc.

Written in 1930 the two nations are apparently based on France and Germany and are no less antagonistic, but are also shown to be complimentary, even symbiotic. Can I describe this as a geopolitical children’s book with an eventual message of peace and reconciliation?I would also check out: How to Live Forever (though that is more for 2-6 years) by Colin Thompson, The House That Sailed Away by Pat Hutchins and The Phantom Tollbooth by Norman Juster(all of which I have also reviewed). I would recommend this book to a confident reader in KS2, it could also be used as a theme book when looking at issues of equality. On this basis Maurois can be credited with predicting that there would be a new war and that France would be occupied by Germany; he can also be credited with predicting that there would be ultimately a reconciliation and an end to the prolonged enmity between these two countries - even if the actual EU falls a bit short of the complete unification in the story's happy ending. An adorable little satire with two message that are just as relevant now as they were almost a hundred years ago. And he was right, for when Edmund and his thin brother Terry found the secret staircase in the wood which led to the underground countries, Edmund had to go with the Fattypuffs to their city, where people were huge and happy and ate all day long, while Terry went off with the Thinifers, who were as spiky and prickly as their city.