My book review of 'Inch and Grub' by Alastair Chisholm and David Roberts

by Alastair Chisholm and David Roberts
Recommended age: 3+
Inch and Grub
by Alastair Chisholm and David Roberts

Inch and Grub are two inventive cavemen. We meet them first when they have to create the very basics to get by in life - somewhere to live, a way to keep warm, the means to cook food.

Indeed, Inch has a nice cave. But Grub's cave is bigger. So Inch makes a water feature, a chair. He builds a house, he makes a car. Grub then makes a castle, a train, a radio.

In this wry take on 'keeping up with the Joneses' we see an increasingly towering, precarious mound of 'stuff' as Inch and Grub try to outdo each other and prove who is the best, the cleverest, the richest, the most powerful.

Ultimately we see what happens when their worlds collapse, and they, and we, realise that 'stuff' is not what matters in life.

David Roberts' illustrations always make me smile and this is a funny, simple story with a powerful message. While aimed at young children, anyone reading this book will enjoy it on many levels.

Date of this review: November 2020