Measle and the Wrathmonk

Last updated

Measle and the Wrathmonk
Measle and the wrathmonk.JPG
First edition (UK)
Author Ian Ogilvy
IllustratorChris Mould
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
SeriesBooty
GenreChildren's fantasy
Published
Media typePaperback & Hardcover
Pages208
ISBN 0-19-271952-1
OCLC 59137744
Followed by Measle and the Dragodon  

Measle and the Wrathmonk is a children's fantasy novel written by Ian Ogilvy and illustrated by Chris Mould. It was released in 2004 by OUP in the UK and by HarperCollins in the US. [1] It received the Georgia Children's Book Award. [2] It has been translated into at least seven languages, [3] and a film version is in development. [4]

Contents

The first edition was published with a lurid green vinyl cover; the author commented: "It smells like a beach ball or a lilo... It's the brightest, most seeable thing in the whole store. The next one’s going to be luminous orange." [3]

The novel was reissued by OUP in 2010 under the title The Train Set of Terror! [5]

Plot summary

A 10-year-old boy named Measle is living with his horrid guardian, Basil Tramplebone. Measle's life is horrible and boring. Basil builds a detailed train set using money that was left for Measle by his parents and plays with it, while all Measle can do is watch him. Desperate to play with it, Measle tricks Basil into leaving the house by telling him that there is extra money in the bank. His plan backfires, and Basil catches him playing with the train set when he gets home. Basil magically shrinks Measle and placed him in the train set. Measle meets Frank, the electrician who wired the train set, who is all plastic except for his mouth. Measle then feeds him some carrot, which restores Frank to his previous human-form. Frank reveals that the glazed-donut crumbs and lemonade left by Basil turn you to plastic if eaten. Together they rescue Prudence, a wrathmonkologist; William, an encyclopaedia salesman; Kitty, a Brownie scout; Lady Grant, a town official; and Kip, the carpenter who built the table and most of the train set's detail work.

Characters

Measle Stubbs – The main character in the book. A thin 10-year-old boy. He is called 'Measle' because wrathmonks enjoy confusing people by rearranging words. When his parents appear again he learns his real name (Sam Lee), but he still prefers to be called Measle.

Basil Tramplebone – The villain in the book. He is a "wrathmonk", which is a warlock that has gone mad or insane. He is the legal guardian of Measle Stubbs. He is also after the money that Measle is supposed to inherit from his "dead" parents. Described as thin, tall, and has black hair that is kept on his head with black shoe polish. According to Measle, Basil never lies.

Griswold Gristle – A bank manager that helps Basil claim Measle's money. Oddly looks and talks like Basil, and is a wrathmonk according to later books.

Frank Hunter – An electrician who ate some of the lemonade and doughnuts, thus he was turned into plastic. Measle helps him turn back to normal.

Lady Grant – A victim of Basil Tramplebone. She is a borough councillor from town hall that tried to make Basil repair his house. This caused Basil to get mad, and so, she was shrunk. She also uses the word 'revolting' often. She makes a point of being civil to everyone and polite. She claims that basil is an exception even though she knows it’s wrong to hate anyone he is an exception. She is a bit snobby such as about Measle’s unkempt appearance but generally means well.

William O. Durham – A victim of Basil Tramplebone. He is a travelling salesman that tried to sell Basil expensive encyclopaedias. His foot got caught when Basil closed the door, making Basil angry, and William shrunken. He often uses tasteless jokes that no one usually finds amusing. He believes in logic and knowledge. He is very fond of his encyclopaedias and is very dismissive of anything fanciful or magic not in them. He does not believe in Wrathmonks at first for example despite literally being one’s victim. He eventually very grudgingly accepts magic exists.

Kitty Webb – Another victim of Basil Tramplebone. She was a girl scout that was selling cookies, but was scared by Basil's appearance and tried to run away. Basil caught her and shrunk her. She is often afraid but can be brave. She seems to develop something of a crush on Measle. Her knot tying skills come in handy later in the book.

Kip Lovell – A victim of Basil Tramplebone. He is a carpenter who made a table for Basil; however, Basil was not pleased by it, so Kip was shrunk. Kip had been there the longest so he was almost all plastic. When revived he is very practical and helpful. He seems to find moving and talking hard at first but gets better.

Prudence Preyer – A victim of Basil Tramplebone. She was a wrathmonkologist, someone who studies wrathmonks, and was spying on Basil for six months but got caught one day because her dog, Tinker, had barked, causing Basil to notice them. She has a snarky sense of humour particularly towards William and his refusal to accept the obvious.

Sam Stubbs – Measle's dad. He is a wizard.

Lee Stubbs – Measle's mum. She is a manafount which means she, although unable to do spells herself, has an unlimited supply of mana, which is what magicians use to cast spells. This mana can be tapped into either by her husband holding hands with her or by her being eaten. (see Measle and the Dragodon)

Major themes

  1. Little people can make a difference.
  2. Eat your vegetables.
  3. Looks can be deceiving.
  4. What goes around, comes around.

Awards

Film adaptation

On November 13, 2008, Thor Freudenthal set to direct the film adaptation at Warner Bros. with Robert Zemeckis was set to produce the film. [6] A company called PRANA has since shown interest and plans to turn the book into a Pixar type animated film.

Related Research Articles

<i>The English Patient</i> 1992 novel

The English Patient is a 1992 novel by Michael Ondaatje. The book follows four dissimilar people brought together at an Italian villa during the Italian Campaign of the Second World War. The four main characters consist of: an unrecognizably burned man — the eponymous patient who is presumed to be English; his Canadian Army nurse; a Sikh British Army sapper; and a Canadian self described as a thief. The story is set during the North African Campaign and centers on the incremental revelations of the patient's actions prior to his injuries, and the emotional effects of these revelations on the other characters. The story is told through the characters' perspectives and "authors" of books the characters are reading.

<i>Victim</i> (1961 film) 1961 British film directed by Basil Dearden

Victim is a 1961 British neo-noir suspense film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Dirk Bogarde and Sylvia Syms. The first British film to explicitly name homosexuality and deal with it sympathetically, it premiered in the UK on 31 August 1961 and in the US the following February.

<i>Ripleys Game</i> 1974 novel by Patricia Highsmith

Ripley's Game (1974) is a psychological thriller by Patricia Highsmith, the third in her series about the con artist and murderer Tom Ripley.

<i>The Assassination Bureau</i> 1969 British film

The Assassination Bureau Limited is a 1969 British Technicolor black comedy adventure film, produced by Michael Relph, directed by Basil Dearden, and starring Oliver Reed, Diana Rigg, Telly Savalas, and Curd Jürgens. It was released in the U.S. by Paramount Pictures and is based on Jack London's unfinished novel, The Assassination Bureau, Ltd, posthumously published in 1963. Unlike the novel, which is set in the United States, the film is set in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Ogilvy</span> English actor, playwright and novelist (born 1943)

Ian Raymond Ogilvy is an English actor, playwright and novelist.

<i>The Body in the Library</i> 1942 Miss Marple novel by Agatha Christie

The Body in the Library is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in February 1942 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in May of the same year. The US edition retailed at $2.00 and the UK edition at seven shillings and sixpence. The novel features her fictional amateur detective Miss Marple.

<i>From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler</i> Novel by E. L. Konigsburg

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is a novel by E. L. Konigsburg. The book follows siblings Claudia and Jamie Kincaid as they run away from home to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. It was published by Atheneum in 1967, the second book published from two manuscripts the new writer had submitted to editor Jean E. Karl.

<i>La Bête humaine</i> Émile Zola novel (1889)

La Bête humaine is an 1890 novel by Émile Zola. The story has been adapted for the cinema on several occasions. The seventeenth book in Zola's Les Rougon-Macquart series, it is based on the railway between Paris and Le Havre in the 19th century and is a tense, psychological thriller.

<i>Daughter of the Dragon</i> 1931 film

Daughter of the Dragon is a 1931 American pre-Code crime mystery film directed by Lloyd Corrigan, released by Paramount Pictures, and starring Anna May Wong as Princess Ling Moy, Sessue Hayakawa as Ah Kee, and Warner Oland as Dr. Fu Manchu. The film was made to capitalize on Sax Rohmer's then current book, Daughter of Fu Manchu, which Paramount did not own the rights to adapt. Despite being the starring lead and having top billing in this film, Wong was paid only $6,000, half the money for her role that Oland was paid for his, even though Oland had less screen time than Wong. In a 2020 article about Wong, O, The Oprah Magazine linked this discrepancy to racism.

The Wallenquist Organization is a criminal organization in the fictional universe of Frank Miller's Sin City. It is led by Herr Wallenquist, a German-American mobster shrouded in mystery. The organization has a broad base of criminal enterprise to its name, including drug smuggling, contract killing, racketeering, organ harvesting and human trafficking for the purpose of illegal adoption and slavery, as well as having many city officials on their payroll at one time or the other. They employ scores of mercenaries, including former IRA members, and implied Neo-Nazis.

A Shoggoth on the Roof is a parody of the 1964 musical Fiddler on the Roof based on the works of H. P. Lovecraft. Published by the H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society, it is credited to a member of the society who is referred to only as "He Who Must Not Be Named".

<i>The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show</i> TV series or program

The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show is an animated television series produced by Ruby-Spears Productions from 1979 to 1981; it was shown right after Super Friends on the ABC Network.

<i>Hotel for Dogs</i> (film) 2009 film by Thor Freudenthal

Hotel for Dogs is a 2009 American family comedy film directed by Thor Freudenthal in his directorial debut, and based on the 1971 novel of the same name by Lois Duncan. Starring Jake T. Austin, Emma Roberts, Kyla Pratt, Lisa Kudrow, Kevin Dillon and Don Cheadle, the film tells the story of two orphaned siblings, who secretly take in stray dogs along with their family dog at a vacant hotel.

<i>Measle and the Dragodon</i> 2004 novel by Ian Ogilvy

Measle and the Dragodon is a children's novel written by Ian Ogilvy and illustrated by Chris Mould. It is the second book in the Measle Stubbs series. The novel was first published in 2004 by OUP in the UK and HarperCollins in the US. It was reissued by OUP in 2010 under the title The Funfair of Fear!

<i>A Summer Story</i> 1988 British film

A Summer Story is a British drama film released in 1988, directed by Piers Haggard, based on John Galsworthy’s 1916 short story "The Apple Tree", with a script by Penelope Mortimer. It stars James Wilby, Imogen Stubbs, and Susannah York.

<i>Mana Po</i> Philippine TV series

Mana Po is a Philippine romantic-drama comedy TV series aired by ABS-CBN. It is the 14th installment of the Precious Hearts Romances Presents series. It aired from February 21 to April 1, 2011, replacing Juanita Banana and was replaced by Frijolito.

<i>Measle and the Mallockee</i> 2005 childrens novel by Ian Ogilvy

Measle and the Mallockee is a children's novel written by Ian Ogilvy and illustrated by Chris Mould. It is the third book in the Measle Stubbs series. The novel was first published in 2005 by Oxford University Press in the UK and HarperCollins in the US.

<i>Orphan of the Pecos</i> 1937 American film

Orphan of the Pecos is a 1937 American Western film produced and directed by Sam Katzman and starring Tom Tyler, Jeanne Martel, Howard Bryant, and Forrest Taylor. Written by Basil Dickey, the film is about a cowboy who is falsely accused of murdering a rancher whose body he discovers. Before the sheriff arrives, he escapes and tries to find evidence to clear his name and help the rancher's daughter save her ranch. The film was released in the United States on December 30, 1937 by Victory Pictures.

The Lemonade War is a children's novel written by American author Jacqueline Davies, published in 2007. It is the first of the Lemonade War series.

<i>Molkki</i> 2020 Indian television series

Molkki is an Indian Hindi-language television drama series produced by Ekta Kapoor under Balaji Telefilms. It was broadcast on Colors TV and ran from 16 November 2020 to 11 February 2022. It starred Priyal Mahajan, Amar Upadhyay.

References