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Mr Stink

Author	David Walliams
Illustrator	Quentin Blake
Language	English
Genre	Children's fiction (8-12)
Publisher	HarperCollins
Publication date	29 October 2009
Publication place	United Kingdom
Media type	Print
Pages	272 pp
ISBN	978-0007279050
OCLC	535490682
LC Class	PZ7.W1593357 Mr 2010

Mr Stink is a children's book written by David Walliams and illustrated by Quentin Blake, first published in the United Kingdom in 2009 by HarperCollins. It was adapted into a 2011 stage musical and a 2012 television film broadcast by the BBC.

Plot

Chloe is a lonely 12-year-old girl who is bullied at school. Her mother, Caroline, prefers Chloe's academically successful and extra-curricularly ambitious younger sister, Annabelle, and is highly ambitious and running for parliament. Her father has lost his job but is afraid to tell his wife. Chloe meets a smelly tramp known as Mr Stink, befriends him and hides him and his filthy dog Duchess in the garden shed. When he is discovered, Caroline, who advocates clearing homeless people off the streets, falsely claims to have invited him to stay with the family. She and Mr Stink appear together on the TV show Question Time, where Mr Stink is a great success with the audience and embarrasses Caroline by revealing the truth about who gave him shelter. The TV appearance leads to an audience with the Prime Minister, who makes Mr Stink an offer to which Chloe says, "tick it up your fat bum!". It is later revealed Mr Stink is a Lord who became a tramp after the death of his wife. Mr Stink declines to change his ways and resumes his travels.

Publication and reception

Mr Stink was first published by HarperCollins in October 2009 in hardcover format. A list of notable formats is as follows:

Mr Stink was Walliams' second children's book, after The Boy in the Dress, also illustrated by Quentin Blake. It was a best-seller and generally well received; the reviewer in The Daily Express called it "a gentle book with plenty of jokes about bottoms ... and a message about the put upon coming out on top", and in The Guardian a review of the stage musical called the book "a deliciously improbable romp" while a children's book reviewer called it "a really, really hilarious book, probably one of the best I have read in my life". However, the reviewer for Kirkus Reviews deemed most of the book "trite" and apparently a vehicle for the illustrations and for "a set of typecast characters".

Adaptations

A musical adaptation of Mr Stink toured the UK in 2011.

A 60-minute film of Mr Stink scripted by Walliams aired on 23 December 2012 on BBC One. It was also broadcast in 3D, the BBC's first narrative program to be filmed in 3D.

References

1. ^ Virginia Blackburn (6 November 2009). "Mr Stink: David Walliams". Daily Express.
2. ^ Henry IX (5 September 2014). "Children's books: Mr Stink by David Walliams – review". The Guardian.
3. ^ "MR. STINK by David Walliams & illustrated by Quentin Blake". Kirkus Reviews. 30 September 2010.
4. ^ Richard Jinman (29 November 2017). "From Little Britain to Mr. Stink, why David Walliams is still breaking boundaries". The Sydney Morning Herald.
5. ^ Lyn Gardner (2 June 2011). "Mr Stink – review". The Guardian.
6. Martin Chilton (12 September 2011). "David Walliams: busiest man in showbusiness". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 20 March 2024.
7. Candice Lo (21 February 2012). "David Walliams' Mr Stink Comes to BBC One" (Comedy blog). BBC.
8. "Media Centre – BBC One Programme Information". BBC. Archived from the original on 30 November 2012.
9. David Walliams (21 December 2012). "David Walliams: How I created a Christmas stink". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 24 December 2012.
10. Mr Stink 3D, BBC.

• 2009 British novels
• British children's novels
• British novels adapted into films
• HarperCollins books
• Novels by David Walliams
• 2009 children's books