Stig of the Dump - A Book review by Matthew Collister

Stig of the Dump is a children's adventure book by Clive King. It is illustrated by Edward Ardizzone. The main characters in the book are Barney and Stig. Barney and his sister Lou, are sent to stay with their Grandmother in the school holidays. Barney is allowed to explore the area by himself, but is told by his Grandmother that if he went too near the edge of the chalk pit the ground would give way. One day Barney is bored and goes to explore the chalk pit, and the ground did give way. He fell, banged his head and woke up to see a strange, scruffy looking boy who doesn't speak English and communicates by grunting. The one word he can say is "Stig" so this is what Barney calls him. Barney finds out that Stig lives in the chalk pit, and is a brilliant inventor. He has built himself a cave and has found uses for all the rubbish and junk that has been thrown in the chalk pit. Stig gives Barney a piece of flint which Barney takes home to his Grandmother's house. It is the beginning of a great friendship and many adventures. Together Barney and Stig fight some rough boys, catch robbers, and face a real leopard! But is Stig actually real, or is he part of Barney's imagination? Where did he come from?

My favourite character is Stig because he is creative and can make cool inventions. I would recommend this book to 8-12 year olds who like exciting adventure stories. I really enjoyed this book, I would give it a rating of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐.