The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip

George Saunders

Illustrated by Lane Smith

This is such a cool book! Gappers are little critters who attach themselves to the village goats, disturbing them enough to stop the flow of milk. So, eight times a day the children go out, brush the gappers off into gapper sacks, trudge to the cliff and drop the nasty creatures into the sea. The gappers slowy but surely make their way back to Frip and it all begins again. Great story. Wonderful illustrations. Matthew and I are cruising through it. Nice little moral developing too, as an added bonus. And hilarious - the one lady moves her house too close to her neighbours, and they inform her that "You could look right in on us. You could look right in on us being naked in our own private bathroom." Of course, this sent my son into gales of laughter. He didn't even notice my pause, as I caught the N-word, and did a quick scan ahead. I was seriously concerned that it would be something, uh, else. Duh. It's a children's book and I should know better.