posted on 14 Nov 2019

Catch that Cough by Bonnie Bridgman, illustrated by Louise Forshaw

Maisy is a lively young girl with a problem because she just can’t seem to learn how to ‘catch her cough’. This unusual picture book shows what havoc can result someone's cough is personified as a mischievous blobby purple creature that is determined to escape capture.

The story begins when she is happily making paper rockets with her friend Leo and she forgets to cover her mouth when she coughs. It quickly escapes into the kitchen, giving Mum a tickly throat as it passes and then darts out of an open window into the garden. Meanwhile, back inside the house, it seems that Leo has also been affected and is suddenly so unwell that he doesn’t want to play anymore. Mum is by now too overcome with a coughing fit that she can’t offer any baking activities instead, so Maisy decides to take action.

And so begins the quest to hunt down the pesky cough wherever it might go.  This proves to be much more difficult than she hoped because the cough is certainly enjoying its freedom, jumping on the trampoline, whizzing round the garden disturbing the birds feeding on the bird tale and then leaping into the paddling pool and soaking Maisie in the process. Time to have a rethink about strategy it seems. The ever resourceful Maisy goes back inside the house and draws a ‘tip- top, could not be stopped plan’.  She very cleverly tricks the cough into coming closer by feigning indifference, and then swoops successfully. A satisfying solution to the problem means that everything returns to normal and Mum and Leo seem to be fully recovered.

Except, of course, that isn’t the end of the odd little story, which you will need to read for yourself to discover......

The best thing about this story was the frantic chase through the garden with plenty of opportunity to track the cough’s travels following its path shown by dots. I really liked the way in which this was shown as a battle of wills with the naughty cough sticking out its tongue at the increasingly frustrated Maisy. I also smiled at the final two pages which showed another curious character, Mr Manners, who has a moustache, wears a top hat and a monocle (and why not) scuttling along as a result of Maisy burping. I imagine that we might be reading about his exciting adventures very soon.

 Karen Argent

November 2019