George Brown, Class Clown 19 – Return to the Scene of the Burp

Nancy Krulik's Return to the Scene of the Burp is book 19 of George Brown, Class Clown, a very silly story for 6 year olds about going back to the exact spot where all the trouble started.

What happens

George has a problem that won't go away. When the bubbles start bouncing round his belly, a magic burp takes over and he has to do whatever it wants. In science that means doing the twist with Mrs Kelly (and holding her very sweaty hand).

His friend Alex doesn't believe in magic. He's sure there's a scientific reason, and he thinks it might be something in the root beer floats at Ernie's Ice Cream Emporium. That's where the burp struck for the first time.

So Alex gets a Saturday job at Ernie's. Then the two of them go snooping round the kitchen in matching Sherlock Holmes hats, reading the labels with a magnifying glass. What could go wrong?

Meanwhile Louie's dad is opening a rival ice cream parlour on Main Street. At Farley's Flying Floats your sundae arrives by drone! That goes about as well as you'd expect once Louie gets his new remote-control car out.

Ernie's is suddenly very quiet and Alex really wants to help. Then he has his big idea. George has to go back to Ernie's, sit at the same table, order the same float and make the same wish on a shooting star. It's what detectives do in mystery books (according to Alex, anyway).

The burp scenes are so much fun to read aloud. The bubbles ping-pong past his kidneys and tickle his tonsils, so your reader knows exactly what's coming before George does. Then it's whipped-cream beards and an ice-cream-ball fight.

Louie's rap for his dad's TV advert is a highlight too. He gets right to the end before he realises nothing rhymes with silver.

The book explains how the burp started, so it's easy to dip in here. It's an American series, so expect root beer, Jell-O and fourth grade. If your reader thinks a burp is the funniest thing in the world, they'll have a brilliant time.

What to read next

Fancy seeing the shooting star and that first float for themselves? Then go back to where it all began with Super Burp, the very first George Brown book.