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Review
"Funny, touching, ridiculous and dramatic - a treat from start to finish." The Guardian"
Product Description
Banjo is about to tuck into his sausage when it jumps right up off the plate and runs away. But the sausage - whose name is Melvin - isn't alone. He's followed by the fork, the knife, the table, the French fries and even the peas. And so the chase begins. Will Banjo ever catch up with his runaway dinner?
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a fantastic story of a little boy called Banjo, who every day, rain or shine, summer or winter, has a sausage for his dinner. On this particular day, Melvin, the sausage, decides he doesn't want to be eaten. He gets up and runs away, pursued by the rest of his dinner, his cutlery, the furniture and finally Banjo and his parents.
Each of the items in the story is given a name, and as Melvin makes his escape we move through an increasingly surreal and fantastic landscape in which the doings of all the other items are also narrated.
The illustrations are quite unusual, and in themselves provide a lot of the impact and the talking points of the story. My kids, aged 8, 4 and 15 months love this story and never tire of hearing it. The greatest thing about it, in my opinion is the fact that it is interesting for adults as well because it never dumbs down. The use of language is interesting and even poetic in places and it has a lovely rhythm and narrative pace which gives it the shape of an old fashioned classic, rather like the gingerbread man, from which it undoubtedly took its inspiration. Inspired work.
Each of the items in the story is given a name, and as Melvin makes his escape we move through an increasingly surreal and fantastic landscape in which the doings of all the other items are also narrated.
The illustrations are quite unusual, and in themselves provide a lot of the impact and the talking points of the story. My kids, aged 8, 4 and 15 months love this story and never tire of hearing it. The greatest thing about it, in my opinion is the fact that it is interesting for adults as well because it never dumbs down. The use of language is interesting and even poetic in places and it has a lovely rhythm and narrative pace which gives it the shape of an old fashioned classic, rather like the gingerbread man, from which it undoubtedly took its inspiration. Inspired work.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is such a strange story and yet my kids love it! A little boy (called Banjo) has a sausage for his dinner - then the dinner runs away and there is a race around the park. It is totally surreal, imaginative and brilliant. My daughter loves to spot the runaway pea! Fantastic book. It just works.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is utterly foolish, completely absurd, and as a result my boys (2 and 5) think its absolutely fantastic. Ahlberg's books range from really-quite-sensible to brilliantly-delivered lunacy and this is at the latter end of the spectrum. A sausage called Melvin jumps off the plate and runs away followed by the cutlery and crockery, table and chair, not to mention a little crowd of peas, carrots and French fries (called Francois, Fifi etc.). The carrots escape in a paper bag, two of the three peas meet untimely ends, and most of the French fries sit down to enjoy the cricket in the park. The chair gets sat on, the sausaage befriends the cricket ball in the long grass, and Banjo the boy goes home hungry for pudding.....
The illustrations are good - with a bright fun feel that perfectly matches the story - and the whole package is a great delivery of a quirky tale.
And if you enjoy this, then follow it up with Half a Pig or The Cat who got carried away, by the same author.
The illustrations are good - with a bright fun feel that perfectly matches the story - and the whole package is a great delivery of a quirky tale.
And if you enjoy this, then follow it up with Half a Pig or The Cat who got carried away, by the same author.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great fun!
A little boy named Banjo has a sausage every day for his dinner. One day the sausage jumps up and runs away! Read more
Published 2 months ago by C. Barry
Perfect bed time story.
Bought this for my 4 year old son as he loves "The Pencil" by the same author, however both my son and my 8 year old daughter love this one equally. Read more
Published 3 months ago by James B. Spencer
The Runaway Dinner
What an amusing little story with great illustrations. Highly recommended for ages 4+. Buy it! We & our grandson laughed & laughed.
Published 7 months ago by Pat Bunce
Excellent book!
Entertaining story that captures the imagination and is written beautifully, in a style that is part over-the-fence gossip and part race commentary. Read more
Published 7 months ago by J. Benson
Funny story
A great story from a great author. The illustrations are excellent, just as expected. The story is funny and odd and will make both children and adults chuckle. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Miss W
3 year old love it
I bought this book for my three year old who absolutely loves his bedtime story. He found the story funny and loved picking out the various elements of the runaway dinner, some... Read more
Published 16 months ago by F. White
Great Story
Great story - great idea and illustrated very well - Great read for the little ones.
Published 19 months ago by Shots
Fantastic book!
Excellent book, a joy to read to my daughter.
We go the pencil from the library and bought that too
when it had to go back.
We go the pencil from the library and bought that too
when it had to go back.
Published on 21 April 2010 by L. EVANS
The Runaway Dinner is a hit in my house.
My almost three year old son loves this book. I bought him "The Pencil" earlier but he has shown a preference for this one. Read more
Published on 30 Mar 2010 by Miss E McSweeney
The Runaway Dinner
This is another fantastic book by Allan Ahlberg.
I don't want to repeat what has been said in the other reviews (apart from the fact I agree) but if you love this one, then... Read more
I don't want to repeat what has been said in the other reviews (apart from the fact I agree) but if you love this one, then... Read more
Published on 28 Sep 2009 by Doris
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