Book Review: The Grumpus Under the Rug

A Fair Trade Book

Title: The Grumpus Under the Rug

Author: Ellen Jackson

Author's web page: http://www.e llenjackson.n et/index.htm

Date: 1981

Publisher: Follett

ISBN: 0-695-41626-X

Length: 32 pages

Illustrations: color drawings by Scott Gustafson

Quote: “I didn’t do it. It was the Grumpus who lives under the rug…He’s round. He’s bright. And he looks like a copper penny.”

The Grumpus wastes food and makes messes until the little boy’s mother finds him and…This is another one of those picture books where any comment on the story would spoil the plot.

The Grumpus Under the Rug is a cute, charming little book that children are likely to enjoy, although my copy survived thirty years in a public library, which shows that it’s not one of the real favorites children wear out.

Well, it's a short book, so a short review seemed to be indicated... until I checked prices for this vintage book on Amazon. As a living writer's early work that's not been reprinted, it's become, shall we say, a collector's item. Prices start at $198 for a used hardcover copy in good condition, which is what I happen to have.

Right. To buy it here, send $200 per copy, $5 per package for shipping, and in this case $2 per online payment, to the appropriate address at the bottom of the screen. (Notice something about surcharges: if you buy a collector's item here, as opposed to a cheaper item, the Post Office collects the same surcharge either way based on the amount shipped, but online payment is based on percentage, and increases.) As usual, you may add other books, by the same author or different ones, as many as I can cram into the package, and the author(s) or the charity or charities of his/her/their choice(s) receive 10% of the price. In this particular case, if you sent me $205 or $207 for The Grumpus Under the Rug, I'd send $20.50 to Ellen Jackson or her charity.