About BC Books Online
BC Books Online was created for anyone interested in BC-published books, and with librarians especially in mind. We'd like to make it easy for library staff to learn about books from BC publishers - both new releases and backlist titles - so you can inform your patrons and keep your collections up to date.
Our site features print books and ebooks - both new releases and backlist titles - all of which are available to order through regular trade channels. Browse our subject categories to find books of interest or create and export lists by category to cross-reference with your library's current collection.
A quick tip: When reviewing the "Browse by Category" listings, please note that these are based on standardized BISAC Subject Codes supplied by the books' publishers. You will find additional selections, grouped by theme or region, in our "BC Reading Lists."
Description
Richard picks his nose, until one day he discovers the perils of his habit.
When his finger gets stuck up his nose, Richard panics. Then his nose sucks up his arm. Before he knows it, all of him slides up his nose. Richard has become a giant booger. He propels his booger-ball self out of his house. But as he rolls down the sidewalk things get worse, way worse. Soon the whole town is chasing after him and jabbing at him. Will Richard be poked to pieces? With some quick thinking and a little luck, Richard avoids a terrible end.
Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels
- Age:
- 3 to 5
- Grade:
- p to k
- Reading age:
- 3 to 5
Editorial Reviews
"Hodson's sticky green acrylics-and-colored-pencil illustrations hearken back to the anything-for-a-gag Garbage Pail Kids gross-outs of the 1980s and really take off when Richard is completely sucked into his own nose and becomes a giant ball of mucus…Icky for sure, but that's the whole point."
— Booklist
"EWWW! GROSS! You can just hear it from all those kids who love any book that makes adults cringe. Take Richard, for instance....please! How can kids love a guy who picks his nose and creates 'castles, farms and zoos' from his ooze? Well, if you know kids, you know that is exactly what will happen. In the hilarious words from Carolyn Beck's pen and the grossly exaggerated images from Ben Hodson's acrylic paints and colored pencils, you will find yourself reading a funny, mucilaginous story to overattentive young listeners. Everything that you, as an adult, find abhorrent, they will find hilarious and heartwarming...The story moves quickly and rhythmically from start to finish. Even adults will giggle at some of the antics; kids will find them grossly delightful! The artwork is a perfect accompaniment to the text, showing green boogers in all their glory as they vandalize the town and its people. With the final denouement, listeners will see that Richard has learned a lesson, while everyone else must deal with the aftermath of that learning."
— Sal's Fiction Addiction blog
"Beck's rhyming text vividly describes the exaggerated quantities of bright green snot seen throughout this book and the panic Richard endures when he becomes 'stuck'...Oozing all over the pages of this book, [Hodson's illustrations] will elicit variations of YUCK and UGH from the audience. Fun vocabulary (gooky, clabbery, old Mrs. Rappertaffy) and entertaining animals add interest to this story. Readers, with a strong stomach, could share this humorous tale with children who are learning about hygiene, bad habits or the importance of good manners."
— Resource Links
"Beck's verse is rollicking and suitably revels in the repulsive topic...Hodson's illustrations are a delight—silly, slimy and exuberantly coloured."
— Canadian Children's Book News
"A bouncy, rythmic text...Entertaining for fans of gross-out humor."
— The Horn Book Guide
"Richard was a picker, With his finger up his nose. It's quite a nasty habit As most anybody knows. ... The concept is kid-friendly In a gross, disgusting style. The pictures are hilarious and sure to make you smile."
— Puget Sound Council for Reviewing Children's Media
"Fun for kids [who] savor a good gross-out...Hodson's illustrations...[are] deliciously slimy...Beck has a flair for funny phrases (and alliteration), so why not read it aloud (even at Halloween)? Lots of fun."
— BookLinx
"An orginal, funny, gooey, and even heartwarming new picture book…Beck's imaginative poetry [ ] is fast-paced and will have adult readers laughing along…Hodson's illustrations are brilliantly done. Kids will love how he splashes every page (including the cover) with enormous green boogers that actually draw readers in instead of repelling them. To Richard's peers, he's merely a picker. To the reader, however, he's a young artist shunned for his craft."
— Quill & Quire
"The rhyming text clearly bounces along…Saturated in disgusting descriptions, this vile offering pointedly targets boys of a certain age, and the gross-out humor will surely elicit plenty of eews along the way. Mission accomplished."
— Kirkus Reviews
