George Brown, Class Clown 5 – Wet and Wild!

Nancy Krulik's Wet and Wild is a George Brown, Class Clown story for 6 year olds about a water-park birthday party and a burp that won't behave.

What happens

George is the new kid in Beaver Brook, and he's trying very hard to be good. The trouble is his burps. Ever since a wish on a shooting star went a bit wrong, a super burp can bubble up at any moment. When it comes out, George loses control of his arms and legs and does something ridiculous.

This is the fifth George Brown book, and the first chapter explains the burps for anyone who's new to them.

Louie has never liked George. But Louie's mum made him invite the whole year to his party at Pirate Island Water Park, and George really loves water parks. So he's going.

First he has to buy a present. That trip ends with George pedalling a toddler's tricycle round the toy shop, honking the horn at a lady in a green hat. When the lady turns up again at the party, George's stomach drops. (Who could she possibly be?)

At the water park, George and his best mate Alex try a very scientific plan. No candyfloss, no pizza, no burps. It doesn't work out (there's a shark attack in the lazy river, for a start).

It's silly in the best way. The burp always arrives like clockwork, ping-ponging out of his belly and bing-bonging up his chest, so your reader will know it's coming before George can stop it. That's half the fun!

There's plenty of gross stuff too. Alex is trying to break a world record with a ball of already-chewed gum, and he collects it from under desks, off pavements and out of a toilet cubicle.

Under all the jokes, George is a nice boy who's doing his best, which makes the chaos very easy to cheer for. Louie is exactly the kind of show-off you want to see get a soaking.

If you've got a reader who thinks burps are the funniest thing in the world, this is VERY much their book.

What to read next

The earliest George Brown in the library is Trouble Magnet, where the burp strikes in the middle of a hula lesson in the school gym.