The ogre that ate children

Like all the best fairy tales L'orco che mangiava i bambini by Fausto Gilberto begins: “Once upon a time there was a horrible nasty Ogre”.

After Rockstars, the quirky humour of Gilberti’s drawings is back to tell us a story for children and adults about an overgrown ogre that loves to eat children. Not all children though. Only gluttonous ones that devour sugar, sweets, chips and fizzy drinks. The stick-like figures typical of Gilberti’s style are the spindly protagonists of an entertaining story where monochrome black is interrupted here and there by the odd touch of red, reflecting how the humour of the story and its illustrations create a twist in the tale of a wicked but very clumsy ogre, struggling with a ‘diet’ that would make even the greediest child healthy and balanced.

The message to lovers of junk food then is to be careful what you eat, otherwise you may end up in the ogre’s larder!

This book is also available in Italian.