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Scribbleboy

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Scribbleboy

By: Philip Ridley
Narrated by: Rusell Boulter
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About this listen

 Years ago, Scribbleboy transformed the gloomy grey concrete of the neighbourhood with his fabulous shapes and colours...until, without warning, he vanished. Most of the scribbles were destroyed, and only the Scribbleboy fan club kept his legend alive. Then, one night, a strange figure is seen and a mysterious voice is heard. Could the impossible have happened? Has the legend come true? Is Scribbleboy really back?©1997 Philip Ridley (P)2014 Audible, Inc. Science Fiction & Fantasy
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Great kid's book that is fun for many ages. I read this when I was quite young originally and went back to it in audiobook format because I was interested in hearing if the characters were the same as I remembered.

In general the story is fun, set in a slightly surreal version of 90s Britain and centres around a group of kids who look up to the legendary graffiti artist Scribbleboy. The language is very simple and stylised towards stereotypical children's speech which makes it easy to get into but might not be satisfying for some older readers. I found the caricature-like characters funny enough to stick with though.

My only real complaint is that almost every character has a catch phrase and whenever a big event happens they will all say them one after the other. On paper its fine because you can skim it and you get the amusement while not having to read it all. In audiobook though it gets a bit tedious, especially towards the end when there are 7 or 8 characters gathered together and several big revelations come close together. Also the physical book is full of Chris Ridley illustrations that really help the atmosphere which obviously you don't get here.

Boulter does a good job of differentiating the characters and never falters in pronouncing any of the invented words. Good performance and his accent definitely complements the setting.

Recommended for car journeys with kids, nostalgia or people who want a simple fun story and can live without more complex flourishes in the writing.

Fun but repetitive in parts

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It’s a truly heart warming story and very well read. Touches on some emotional moments. Stay fabulous scribblers.

Excellent performance of an iconic book

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