George Brown, Class Clown 6 – Help! I’m Stuck in a Giant Nostril!

Nancy Krulik's sixth George Brown, Class Clown book is a school-trip comedy for 6 year olds, and it ends up somewhere no child has ever wanted to be.

What happens

The full title gives you the idea. Help! I'm Stuck in a Giant Nostril! George arrived at Edith B. Sugarman Elementary promising himself no more pranks, and he's trying SO hard to be good. The trouble is his magic super burp. Out of nowhere it fizzes up from his tummy, and suddenly his hands and feet are doing whatever daft thing it fancies.

His best friend Alex is the only one who knows. He's forever trying out cures. This time he's recorded "You will not burp" on George's music player to play all night while he sleeps. It lasts until breakfast. Then the waffles start flying across the kitchen like frisbees!

There's a lot going on in a short book. George wrecks the leaves his dad spent two hours raking and ends up as a scarecrow with crow poop on his head. He makes a bet with show-off Louie. Whoever mentions their old school (George) or their big brother (Louie) first has to be the other one's servant for a whole day. And the whole fourth grade visits the science centre, where there's a heart you can walk through and a slide shaped like a giant nose.

You can probably see where that's heading.

It's properly funny in the gross-out way young readers adore. A fungus room with a mouldy bath in it. A booger boogie. Wet corn kernels in a box that feel exactly like teeth. The descriptions of the burp are brilliant too, "bing-bonging" around George's kidneys and "ping-ponging" over his liver.

Underneath the silliness George is quite a sweet character. He takes the blame for the burp's messes, says sorry to his dad and rakes every leaf again on his own. And Alex never gives up on him (even if his cures are a bit hopeless).

If you've got a reader who laughs hardest at the rude bits, George is very good company. It's a short, snappy read, which is great for newly confident readers.

What to read next

The next book in the series is Attack of the Tighty Whities, where George has made it to the county spelling bee. Imagine a super burp in the middle of that!