Ug: Boy Genius of the Stone Age

Briggs, Raymond

3.66

430 ratings by Goodreads

9780375916113: Ug: Boy Genius of the Stone Age

ISBN 10: 0375916113 ISBN 13: 9780375916113

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2002

Raymond Briggs’s funniest creation–the Boy Wonder of the Stone Age.
This funny, sad, yet wonderfully life-affirming story is about a misunderstood boy genius who refuses to accept the limitations of the world in which he lives. Young Ug is upwardly mobile, always on the brink of finding a better way, a nicer way of getting through life. He discovers that the fire that comes out of the sky can make dead animal bits taste terrific, but his mother thinks this is a disgusting idea and, she adds, “Terrific? What sort of word is that? Don’t you bring language like that into this cave!” He invents the wheel but doesn’t know quite what to do with it. What he really wants is a pair of soft, warm trousers. But how many millions of years must he wait for them? Ug’s story is told in more than 100 colorful frames with speech balloons much like a graphic novel but for a younger audience. Witty footnotes explain some of the many hilarious anachronisms.

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About the Author:

Raymond Briggs is one of the world’s most popular and innovative author-illustrators. His award-winning books include the beloved storybooks The Snowman, The Bear, Father Christmas and, most recently, the critically acclaimed tribute to his parents, Ethel & Ernest.
From the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly:

Ug is a dreamer. Foremost amongst his dreams? Soft trousers. When he balks at the stone pants his father carves for him ("I can hardly move"), his father replies, "Listen to me, Ug. Nowadays everything is made of stone. This is why nowadays is called The Stone Age." Briggs (The Snowman), with his trademark comic strip-like panels, follows Ug from boyhood to manhood on his quest for a more enlightened life, mining this rich vein of cheeky humor brilliantly. Ug's mother, the slyly named Dugs, believes that her son is headed for ruin ("He'll end up painting animals on the walls"), and the exchanges between the two frequently sound like a Monty Python routine (when Ug asks what's for dinner, for instance, Dugs replies, "Same as always bits of dead animals." "I wish there was something else, something nice," the boy says, to which his mother replies, "Nice! You're always going on about Nice!," and on from there). Ug's dissatisfaction leads to his invention of the wheel (he doesn't know what to do with it), his discovery of fire (his parents squelch the idea) and, as a grown man, he does indeed paint animals on cave walls. Briggs's pleasingly round characters and the muted palette of his softly shaded pencil and watercolor illustrations provide plenty of eye appeal, while a running tongue-in-cheek list of "anachronisms" (e.g., "Minute: [anachronism] No one knew about minutes in the Stone Age. Nevertheless, they were there all the time") adds to the hilarity. Ages 8-up.-- No one knew about minutes in the Stone Age. Nevertheless, they were there all the time") adds to the hilarity. Ages 8-up.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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