Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

This page is about the children's book series, as well as the franchise, as a whole. For the first book in the series, see Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids (book). For the cartoon adaptations, see Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids (TV series).

Quick facts for kids Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids
Official franchise logo
Creator	Jamie Rix
Original work	Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids by Jamie Rix (1990)
Print publications
Books	13
Miscellaneous
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language	English

Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids (often nicknamed Grizzly Tales) is the generic trademarked title for a series of award-winning children's books by British author Jamie Rix which were later adapted into an animated television series of the same name produced for ITV. Known for its surreal black comedy and horror, the franchise was immensely popular with children and adults, and the cartoon became one of the most-watched programmes on CITV in the 2000s; a reboot of the cartoon series was produced for Nickelodeon UK and NickToons UK in 2011 with 26 episodes (split into 2 series) with the added tagline of Cautionary Tales for Lovers of Squeam!. The first four books in the series were published between 1990 and 2001 by a variety of publishers (such as Hodder Children's Books, Puffin, and Scholastic) and have since gone out of print but are available as audio adaptations through Audible and iTunes. The ITV cartoon was produced by Honeycomb Animation and aired between 2000 and 2006 with 6 series; reruns aired on the Nickelodeon channels along with the 2011 series.

Each book in the franchise contained several cautionary tales about children of many ages and the consequences of their antisocial actions. Due to how far-fetched and fantastical the stories could become, it is up to the reader whether they found the series frightening or amusing, but the franchise is usually categorised as children's horror. When the series was adapted for the CITV/Nickelodeon cartoons, the book chapters became ten-minute episodes that were narrated by comic actor Nigel Planer, and created by Honeycomb Animation, with author Rix as co-director.

The franchise received critical acclaim, noted by the themes of horror surrealism and adult paranoia blended with common children's book absurdity. The Daily Telegraph said of the CITV cartoon, "Mix Dahl with Belloc and you can anticipate with glee these animated tales of Jamie Rix. Even William Brown's antics pale..." and The Sunday Times wrote: "They are superior morality stories and Nigel Planer reads them with a delight that borders on the fiendish."

Plot

The Grizzly Tales series features short stories about cautionary tales and imitates an episodic anthology horror (similar to The Twilight Zone or Tales from the Darkside) with each book chapter a different short story. The typical structure would be a brief glance at a main character's typical day in their life, followed by a change in their routine (e.g. a new possession comes their way or a decision made by them/a supporting character) which eventually goes wrong in a hoisted with their own petard way, with the story ending with the main character either being killed, mutilated, involuntarily shapeshifting, or kidnapped by something/someone supernatural. They usually star children whose misbehaviour (laziness, greediness, vanity, lying, etc.) is failed to be reined in by their parents or guardians, who vary from encouraging it, ignoring it, failing to be firm with their punishments, or do nothing because they are used to being submissive. There are exceptions, however, as some stories are about adults, or set in the past, or are pastiches.

Book series

Recurring features

Locations of stories varied. Some took place in fictionalised versions of English towns (e.g. Colchester) and others did not (Saucy by Sea). Not all took place in the country of the franchise's origin: "It's Only a Game, Sport!" was set in Australia, for example. "The Chipper Chums Go Scrumping" is a pastiche of the works of Enid Blyton and is set in the Kentish countryside in 1952.

Naming conventions highlighted the humour. The Independent on Sunday pointed out, "Jamie Rix’s splendidly nasty short stories can be genuinely scary, but as the protagonists are obnoxious brats with names like Peregrine and Tristram, you may find yourself cheering as they meet their sticky ends." Some of the characters' surnames implied their roles in the story (Mr. and Mrs. Frightfully-Busy were workaholics, Johnny Bullneck is an aggressive school bully, and Serena Slurp is greedy) whereas the more ridiculous the family name is, the more unpleasant they are in the story: Fedora Funkelfink the con artist; and the upper-middle-class Crumpdump family, who trophy hunt to impress their spoilt children. "Knock Down Ginger", meanwhile, is set in a fictional town called Nimby, a notorious home for middle-class snobs. Some of the punishments that the horrible characters have are based on puns: loud-mouthed Dolores from "Silence is Golden" is taken to an alchemist and is turned into a gold statue; "Kiss and Make Up" was a double meaning title about a girl who used make up to look prettier so that she could have her first kiss with a handsome boy in her school. Other titles are pop-culture references ("Fatal Attraction", "The Big Sleep", "The Barber of Civil", "Monty's Python", etc.).

Story issues and morals were relatable to the reader (particularly the parents that would be reading to their children), such as television addiction, sibling rivalry, trying to fit in with their friends, personal hygiene, refusing to eat their dinner, punctuality, but others are about theft and deforestation, as well as an implied anti hunting message in "An Elephant Never Forgets". Supernatural characters varied from witch doctors (Doctor Moribundus, The Barber of Civil), poltergeists (The Spaghetti Man), to snake-oil salesmen. There were also fairies, talking animals, aliens, inanimate objects coming to life (such as drawings), and witches, as well as cursed objects, and absurd occurrences (such as piglets travelling across the countryside disguised as a man); other villains, like Farmer Tregowan, were regular people with extremely violent methods of punishment. Children could be shapeshifted, eaten alive, kidnapped, or turned into food. Due to many of the parents' child neglect and lack of discipline, many of the outcomes of their children's stories do not appear to affect their lives. Some of the workaholic parents are too busy to notice that their child has either been maimed or has disappeared and others are implied to be such insignificance in their children's lives that they do not appear as characters in the story. Meanwhile, happy (or bittersweet) endings were about the character learning from their bad behaviour and turning their lives around before things got worse.

Book list

No.	Title	Date of publication	No. of pages	Publisher	Notes	Other ISBN
1	Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids	17 May 1990	112	André Deutsch Limited	Out of print by 2010	(1992) (2000)
2	Ghostly Tales for Ghastly Kids	14 February 1992	144	André Deutsch Limited		(1995) (2000)
3	Fearsome Tales for Fiendish Kids	8 April 1996	224	Hodder Children's Books
4	More Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids	19 January 2001	304	Scholastic		n/a
5	Nasty Little Beasts	5 April 2007	128	Orion Children's Books
6	Gruesome Grown Ups	5 April 2007	128
7	The "Me!" Monsters	5 July 2007	128
8	Freaks of Nature	5 July 2007	128
9	Terror Time Toys	7 February 2008	128
10	Blubbers and Sickers	7 February 2008	128
11	The Gnaughty Gnomes of "NO!"	1 July 2008	128
12	Superzeroes	1 July 2008	128
13	A Grizzly Dozen	4 June 2009	256

Television series

Between 2000 and 2012, two animated adaptations were made for CITV and NickToons. Both were produced and animated by Honeycomb Animation as well as Rix's own television company Elephant (later renamed Little Brother). Producing partner Nigel Planer performed in the cartoons as the narrator of the stories during each episodes' framing devices. The first animated adaptation aired on CITV between January 2000 and October 2006, and the second aired on Nicktoons between May 2011 and November 2012.

Merchandise

Kindle versions of the first four books were briefly available to buy in 2011.

Nigel Planer was the narrator for this series and played Uncle Grizzly. He also narrated Fearsome Tales for Fiendish Kids on audiobook. Bill Wallis narrated More Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids, and Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids and Ghostly Tales for Ghastly Kids were both read by Andrew Sachs. Orion Audiobooks have also released full CD recordings of the books, read by Rupert Degas. Audio Go have re-released the original Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids audiobook on CD and download.

Awards and nominations

Both the books and the two television adaptations have received awards and nominations for their work.

Books

Year	Award	Category	Nominee	Result	Ref
1990	Nestlé Smarties Book Prize	Fiction, Age 9-11	Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids	Won

Television

List of published short stories

Nearly every story Jamie Rix has written for Grizzly Tales are adaptations from his books:

Key
N/A	Denounces information needed but is not included yet
—	Denounces information that did not happen

Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids (1990)

No.	Title	Theme(s)	Cartoon Episode
No.	Title	Theme(s)	Episode Name	Series	Episode number	Air date
1	The New Nanny	Spite, and telling lies	"The New Nanny"	1	01	4 January 2000
Tristram and Candy Frightfully-Busy frequently bully and humiliate their nanny, and accuse her of abusing them to their parents. When the nanny is fired by Mr Frightfully-Busy, Mrs Frightfully-Busy decides to hire a new one from an animal nanny agency.
2	The One-Tailed, Two-Footed, Three-Bellied, Four-Headed, Five-Fingered, Six-Chinned, Seven-Winged, Eight-Eyed, Nine-Nosed, Ten-Toothed Monster	Prejudice	—	—	—	—
Four centuries ago, an Indian village was terrorised by a large creature, known for kidnapping anyone who is still out at night. A tall farmer's son who is terrible at counting is the creature's next victim.
3	The Spaghetti Man	Spite, Parental abuse by children	"The Spaghetti Man"	1	02	11 January 2000
An invisible, spaghetti-smelling force invites itself into the home of Timothy King, an aggressive child who violently refuses to eat whatever dinner his mother places in front of him. Meanwhile, an old, seemingly-abandoned food factory in Italy only comes to life in the dead of night once a year, but no one knows what happens inside.
4	The Princess's Clothes	Greed, spoilt children	"The Princess's Clothes"	1	07	14 February 2000
Felicity is a daddy's girl, much to her mother's annoyance, and is allowed to do and wear whatever she wants, but tensions arise when her mother considers buying "horrible" clothes from the mysterious Miss Shears.
5	The Black Knight	Greed	—	—	—	—
King Basil of Ruritania dies but with no heirs, the government advertises the available position. In a neighbouring country, its prince—nicknamed The Black Knight—plans to invade and take over the monarchy.
6	Glued to the Telly	television addiction, laziness	"Glued to the Telly"	2	02	23 October 2000
Herbert is allowed to eat as many cheese and onion crisps he wants and watches television all day, never leaving going to school as a result. A television malfunction sucks him inside and he has to try and escape before he turns into a crisp.
7	The Barber of Civil	Rudeness and manners	"The Barber of Civil"	1	09	28 February 2000
The town of Saucy by Sea is notorious for having the worst behaved children in the world, but the reputation is turning around, thanks to the town's new barber who offers free haircuts to the rudest of the schools, which change these children into completely different (but politer) people. Peregrine and Tania are his next customers.
8	The Man With a Chip on His Shoulder	—	—	—	—	—
A paragraph-long story about a man frustrated about a chip growing out of his body.
9	The Giant Who Grew Too Big For His Boots	Hubris	"The Giant Who Grew Too Big For His Boots"	2	06	13 November 2000
In a Welsh cottage lives Hugh, a selfish, lisping giant who keeps growing. The more he grows, the greedier he becomes and the wetter the world gets.
10	The Wooden Hill	Facing fears	"The Wooden Hill"	1	05	31 January 2000
Jack wants his mother to read him a story but the book is upstairs, at the top of the staircase in the dark corridor.
11	The Litter Bug	Littering	"The Litter Bug"	2	10	27 November 2000
The bin was such a successful invention, rats have become extinct and the streets are full of waste mountains. Bunty is a greedy girl who dumps her rubbish anywhere to the point of the mountains being too large for anyone else to leave their houses. She becomes the government's most wanted criminal.
12	Goblin Mountain	Vandalism	"Goblin Mountain"	4	08	30 April 2004
Joseph has a habit of ripping books apart and throwing them out of the window. When there are no books left in the house, he is sent to sleep in the cold, dark attic where he finds a book about goblins.
13	Sweets	Spitefulness	"Sweets"	1	12	20 March 2000
Thomas Rachet causes trouble in supermarkets, embarrassing his submissive mother, because he wants sweets. After a terrible shopping day, Thomas runs away and finds himself in a sweet shop with an old shopkeeper and his creepy mannequins.
14	The Top Hat	Selfishness, pettiness	"The Top Hat"	4	13	21 May 2004
When Benjamin learnt how to walk, he found a top hat that his uncle had given to his parents as a birthday gift. After it breaks from its age years later, Benjamin hopes that his sixth birthday will grant him good fortune, but he is furious when his parents admit that they were unable to find any shops that sell top hats, so he decides to ruin his birthday party as revenge.
15	The Childhood Snatcher	Youth, vicariousness, growing up too fast	"The Childhood Snatcher"	2	01	23 October 2000
Desperate to become famous, Amos marries and has a child, hoping that she will become the youngest genius in the world. However, creating a child genius out of a toddler alerts a supernatural old man, who visits her every year to help himself to her youth by plucking a hair from her head.

Ghostly Tales for Ghastly Kids (1992)

	Title	Theme	Cartoon Episode
	Title	Theme	Episode Name	Series	Episode number	Air date
1	Grandmother's Footsteps	N/A	"Grandmother's Footsteps"	1	03	18 January 2000
A little boy staying overnight at his grandmother's house is spooked by a silohuette outside his bedroom window. The grandmother decides to calm him down by telling him a ghost story which conveniently relates to the little boy's life.
2	Burgers	Deforestation	"Burgerskip"	1	08	21 February 2000 (2000-02-21)
Seamus O'Burger, the CEO of the successful fast food restaurant, Burgerskip, plans to expand his empire by clearing the Amazon rainforest, but his tour guide begs him to reconsider because of a tree shrine dedicated to the indigenous Amazonians' deity that is in the bulldozing path.
3	Tag	Envy, Theft	"Tag"	2	07	13 November 2000
Terry Blotch becomes a kleptomaniac after becoming jealous of a classmate's new popularity. Troubles begin when he steals "A. Phantom"'s PE kit from the school cloakroom.
4	The Locked Door	Nosiness	"The Locked Door"	3	03	24 December 2002
Somewhere in the world is a house with a haunted room that has been locked for 75 years. One day, a deaf couple from New Zealand called Matt and Jodie purchase the house and celebrate the birth of their daughter Rosie, who grows up fascinated by the locked door.
5	A Tangled Web	N/A	"A Tangled Web"	1	06	7 February 2000
Nigel is obsessed with hunting spiders. When a spider named Ariadnae tries to find a new home in his bedroom, he burns her alive, but the ghosts of her children are ready for revenge.
6	The Well	Procrastination	—	—	—	—
Outside the Wellsdeep cottage in Devon, there is a well. Mrs. Halley begs her husband to cover it up before their two inquisitive-fingered grandsons arrive. After telling her that he will do it later numerous times, Mr. Halley is woken up by invisible forces touching him and laughter from outside.
7	An Elephant Never Forgets	Greed, spoilt children	"An Elephant Never Forgets"	2	12	4 December 2000
The spoilt children of the Crumpdump family called Belinda and Percy demand their parents for an elephant so their father compromises by having one killed and its foot turned into an umbrella stand, which they discover has magical powers.
8	School Dinners	Trauma	—	—	—	—
An old man recounts the terrible memories he had from school lunchtimes, from the strict school dinner lady, to the actions of Elgin — a boy he used to sit next to, with a disturbing obsession with school dinners — and how it has impacted his relationship with meals.
9	The Big Sleep	—	—	—	—	—
A short story about a father putting his son to bed as the son wonders whether if someone can tell whether they are still in a dream.
10	Bogman	Laziness	"Bogman"	4	05	16 April 2004
Helen enjoys going to the toilet so that she can escape doing chores. One morning, her mother loses her temper and threatens her to wash the dishes, otherwise The Bogman will come for her.
11	The Broken-Down Cottage	Pranks	"The Broken-Down Cottage"	2	03	30 October 2000
Two boys called Augustus and Arthur who have ran away from their homes live together in an abandoned cottage. To pass the time, they decide to prank call all the emergency services.
12	Guilt Ghost	Guilt, murder	—	—	—	—
A man visited a bar and got into a fight with another customer, who fell to their death. In fear and shock, the man runs away to start a new life, but his guilt of manslaughter personifies into a shapeshifting poltergeist, only he can see and communicate with, that refuses to disappear unless he confesses to the police.
13	A Lesson From History	Laziness	"The History Lesson"	1	11	13 March 2000
Elisa McGregor is to take a history exam in school but she never studied, and loathes the lesson. As she silently panics, watching the rest of the exam hall race through their exam sheets, she is visited by the ghost of a student who died in a school fire 100 years ago.
14	The Ghost of Christmas Turkeys Past	—	—	—	—	—
Jack is a huge fan of turkey meals. His parents are tired of them so his father waits on a neighbour's roof during the late evening of Christmas Eve for Father Christmas to help them stop Jack's eating taste. The magic of Christmas creates a giant, one-legged, talking turkey, who visits Jack and takes him on a journey.
15	Rogues Gallery: The Seven Most-Wanted Ghosts in Britain	—	—	—	—	—
A short fact sheet about seven ghosts: Old Hollow Legs, Nostalgic Nora, Transparent Tony, The Headless Coachman, The Bemuda Triangle, Henry Fink's smelly remains, and Smudger.

Fearsome Tales for Fiendish Kids (1996)

No.	Title	Theme	Cartoon Episode
No.	Title	Theme	Episode Name	Series	Episode number	Air date
1	The Cat Burglar	Dishonesty	"The Cat Burglar"	2	04	6 November 2000
Fedora Funklefink is a notorious con and forgery artist at her school who preys on desperate students. One day, she finds a poster for a missing cat with a £10 reward and uses her conning ways to try and trick the Tearful family, but the cat owner's mother is not easy to fool.
2	Mr. Peeler's Butterflies	Sleep	"Mr Peeler's Butterflies"	2	05	6 November 2000
Alexander refuses to go to bed, wanting to never sleep again, and is visited by Mr Peeler, a character from a nursery rhyme who steals sleep from children who hate going to bed early.
3	Fat Boy with a Trumpet	Bullying	"Fat Boy with a Trumpet"	2	11	27 November 2000
School bully Johnny Bullneck and his malicious gang set upon a new bespectacled student called Timothy with a trumpet case.
4	The Chipper Chums Go Scrumping	Theft	"The Chipper Chums Go Scrumping"	1	10	6 March 2000
Set in 1952 and in the style of the children books of Enid Blyton, Algie is visiting his aunt and uncle in Kent for the summer holidays with his dog Stinker and his best friend Col. They go on a picnic in the countryside with three of the neighbourhood kids (Sam, Ginger, and his sister Alice) and search for an adventure, later deciding to scrump from a nearby apple orchard but they are soon caught by its owner, an angry cider making farmer armed with a shotgun.
5	Prince Noman	Snobbery	"Prince Noman"	2	08	20 November 2000
A frail, doddery king forgets his reading glasses at his newborn son's naming ceremony and misreads his speech sheet, naming his son Noman instead of Norman. The mistake causes the newborn baby's body to go invisible.
6	Death By Chocolate	Gluttony, blackmail	"Death By Chocolate"	1	04	4 January 2000
A chocolate factory momentarily ceases production after a fly infiltrates the production line. The contaminated chocolate bunny is bought by the mother of Serena Slurp, a greedy chocoholic who bullies Eli, her sister. When Serena catches Eli accidentally breaking a fly swatter, Eli agrees to become Serena's slave in exchange for not being snitched on to mother.
7	Well'ard Willard	Lies and peer pressure	"Well'ard Willard"	2	13	4 December 2000
At home, Willard is a science enthusist, but at school, he is known as a popular globetrotter. He improvises far-fetched anecdotes outside of the classroom and the younger students envy his "exploits" but when Willard claims that he stole the sun and has it hidden in his house, an unconvinced girl in the audience dares him to prove it.
8	Athlete's Foot	Arrogance	"Athlete's Foot"	4	10	7 May 2004
Anthony St. John Smythe is the handsome, charming and talented 400m runner who flaunts his success at Ollie, a clumsy boy who is always falling over the finishing line in last place. Ollie grabs the attention of an old man, who gives him magic trainers that make him win every race in exchange for befriending the stranger.
9	The Matchstick Girl	Exploitation	—	—	—	—
In this short story set in Victorian Britain, Polly Peach is a girl from a poor family who sells matchboxes for twopence, until the store owner cuts her pay to a penny.
10	Simon Sulk	Spoilt children	"Simon Sulk"	3	04	30 December 2002
There is an Icelandic legend about shapeshifting trolls that has terrified the country for over five centuries. Meanwhile, in present-day Britain, Simon gets in a sulk by throwing tantrums when he does not get his own way and is furious when his parents want to relocate to Devon, so he locks his door all night.
11	The Dumb Clucks	Hoaxes, gullible	"The Dumb Klutzes"	6	08	17 October 2007
A cowboy arrives in The Cluck family's village of Dork, claiming to be the Son of God, and the townspeople believe every word he says.
12	Doctor Moribundus	Lies	"Doctor Moribundus"	1	13	27 March 2000
Lorelei Lee frequently pretends to be ill so that she can never go back to school. After momentarily being caught, a doctor recommends Dr Moribundus to her oblivious parents.
13	The Stick Men	child neglect, escapism	"The Stick Men"	4	11	7 May 2004
The closest affection Chico gets is from the pictures he draws on his bedroom wall, which his snobbish, workaholic parents quickly wash off as they call him a nuisance. One day, Chico's drawings come to life and show him their world.
14	Little Fingers	Habits	"Little Fingers"	3	12	25 February 2003
Daffyd Thomas used to suck his thumb but his thumb barely survived those days, now looking shrivelled and nail-less. Due to the lack of "affection", the thumb has a life of its own, making Daffyd fail to keep his hands to himself. His parents decide to go on holiday and leave him with his grandmother, which makes his hands fidget towards the telephone.
15	Bessy O'Messy	Laziness	"Bessy O'Messy"	4	07	23 April 2004
Bessy is both wasteful and forgetful, who has a mountain of dirty clothes and other items in her room. When her mother orders her to clean it (without the help of her smug, neat freak brother, Callum), Bessy falls in the pile and lands in an alternate universe where messy leprechauns live.
16	Jack in a Box	Attention-seeking	"Jack in a Box"	2	09	20 November 2000
Jack Delaunay de Havilland De Trop precociously interrupts conversations and frustrates his parents, Lord and Lady Delaunay de Havilland De Trop. At his little sister's birthday party, in walks their hired children's entertainer, Mr. Frankenstein, a ventriloquist.

More Grizzly Tales For Gruesome Kids (2001)

No.	Title	Theme	Cartoon Episode
No.	Title	Theme	Episode Name	Series	Episode number	Air date
1	Knock Down Ginger	Elder abuse	"Knock Down Ginger"	3	02	17 December 2002
In the snobbish town of Nimby, the residents resent Mr Thrips, an entomologist, who lives on Nimby's "millionaire's row" in a house full of rescued insects. Ginger Pie is a boy who lives opposite to Thrips and is encouraged by his mother to scare their neighbour out of town, which he attempts with his friend Milo (along with Milo's sister Eliza) by playing Knock Down Ginger.
2	The Upset Stomach	Animal abuse	"The Upset Stomach"	3	01	10 December 2002
The greedy Ethel Turnip discovers a newspaper advert about a farm that breeds animal stomachs so she orders her parents to buy one in time for Christmas, but she regrets this decision almost immediately after the stomach is delivered.
3	The Gas Man Cometh	Prank call	"The Gas Man Cometh"	4	04	16 April 2004
Stefan, a frequent prank caller, wants to do more impressions, such as Queen Elizabeth II, and decides to take a gas tank full of helium from a "gas man".
4	The Urban Fox	Hunting	"The Urban Fox"	3	05	7 January 2003
An upper-middle-class couple arrive in Mr and Mrs Smith's council estate and decide to go fox hunting when they see the Smiths' pet fox, Elvis, in the kitchen. Mr and Mrs Smith's daughter Parker and Elvis scramble to create a plan to stop the event, through Elvis' cunning ways.
5	Spoilsport	Spite	"Spoilsport"	3	07	21 January 2003
Girl Pinchgut enjoyed destroying children's imaginations, but when she tells her brother Baby that the Tooth Fairy is a tall tale, the Tooth Fairy plans her revenge.
6	Dirty Bertie	Personal hygiene	"Dirty Bertie"	3	10	11 February 2003
Bertie's parents are ashamed that their son refuses to keep himself clean and hope that he will change his mind one day so that other people will want to interact with him, but an alien that has crashlanded in their garden will prove that someone is not bothered by Bertie's filthiness.
7	The People Potter	Responsibility	"The People Potter"	4	03	16 April 2004
Greta Gawky is a tall girl at 2 m (6.6 ft) and very clumsy. After eventually managing to not break anything in her house for a while, her parents buy a porcelain figure from an ancient antique shop, which is based on the legend of The People Potter.
8	It's Only a Game, Sport!	Sore loser	"It's Only a Game, Sport!"	4	01	2 April 2004
Shane and Sheila were once the most famous athletes in Australian history but their children are not as lucky. Their daughter, Kitty, does not mind but their son, Bruce, is a failure at every sport he touches, and has become a sore loser as a result.
9	Fast Food	N/A	—	—	—	—
A short story about an ambulance failing to rescue a patient in time.
10	Sock Shock	N/A	—	—	—	—
Nick never wears shoes and always walks around in his socks. When the washing machine malfunctions, he discovers that one of his precious socks have disappeared, so he sets out to look for them.
11	Revenge of the Bogeyman	N/A	"Revenge of the Bogeyman"	4	02	2 April 2004
Dee discovers The Bogeyman living inside her nose, who wants her to stop picking.
12	Crocodile Tears	Telling lies	"Crocodile Tears"	3	11	18 February 2003
Gwendolyn Howling pretends to be a crybaby so that she can get anything she wants. Her parents, who are both nervous wrecks, believe everything.
13	The Pie Man	Habit	"The Pie Man"	3	08	28 January 2003
Donald is a thumb sucker and has been since the day he was born. A midwife warns that there is a man who uses sucked thumbs to hold up the pastries of his pies, so Donald's parents become determined to stop him from sucking his thumbs, which backfires when they buy him a dummy.
14	Bunny Boy	Fussy eater	"Bunny Boy"	4	06	23 April 2004
Bill refuses to eat his vegetables and tries any absurd method he can think of to get rid of it.
15	Spit	N/A	—	—	—	—
A short story about a boy spitting.
16	Superstitious Nonsense	Lie, Superstition	"Superstitious Nonsense"	4	09	30 April 2004
Pylon Gaslamp is a paranoid girl who invents superstitions, but when her parents disbelieve her, she invents several so she can get out of being bossed by her parents, and her parents believe every single lie.
17	Head in the Clouds	Focus	"Head in the Clouds"	3	09	4 February 2003
Brian is always daydreaming and one afternoon, it causes his head to snap off.
18	When The Bed Bugs Bite	N/A	"When the Bed Bugs Bite"	3	06	14 January 2003
Hannibal loves to bite people but when his antics cause his parents to receive an expensive bill, they tell him that they hope that bed bugs return the favour to him someday.
19	The Decomposition of Delia Deathabridge	N/A	"The Decomposition of Delia Deathabridge"	4	14	21 May 2004
Delia is the daughter of university professors so she believes that she has a right to never study. One day, a substitute English teacher forces her to write an essay and Delia discovers that her writing comes to life.
20	The Grass Monkey	N/A	"The Grass Monkey"	4	12	14 May 2004
Spike has an after-school job in a hairdresser's and falls in love with Esmerelda, a snooty, aspiring model. In order to get out of trouble with her parents, she asks Spike to shoplift special shampoo to prove his love for her.

Nasty Little Beasts (April 2007)

No.	Title	Theme	Cartoon Episode
No.	Title	Theme	Episode Name	Series	Episode number	Air date
1	The Grub A Blub Blub	Laziness	"The Grub A Blub Blub"	5	05	31 March 2006
Savannah Slumberson refuses to leave her bedroom and is furious when her parents adamantly decide to go on a camping holiday at resort miles away from their city.
2	Monty's Python	Sibling rivalry, animal abuse	"Monty's Python"	5	04	30 March 2006
Monty enjoys playing pranks on his sister and decides by buy a python (he names "Sister Eater") to terrorise her more.
3	The Lobster's Scream	N/A	"The Lobster's Scream"	6	09	17 October 2006
Shannon Shellfish shouts "I WANT" when her parents will let her pay attention. Mr Pecorino pays a visit and Shannon needs his lobster costume, while the lobsters throw her into a pot of boiling water.
4	Wolf Child	N/A	"Wolf Child"	5	06	3 April 2006
Garth MacQueen's family has a history of offspring being kidnapped by wolves so when his baby sister is born, he is determined to try and get her kidnapped as well.
5	The Fruit Bat	Fussy eater	"The Fruit Bat"	5	03	29 March 2006
Cherie Stone refuses to eat fruit.
6	The Clothes Pigs	Laziness, greed	"The Clothes Pigs"	6	03	20 September 2006
In the city, Trueman "Truffle" Snuffle makes his parents do everything for him. In nearby farmland, piglets starve as their greedy family members push them out of the way to get a bigger helping in the trough.

Gruesome Grown Ups (April 2007)

No.	Title	Theme	Cartoon Episode
No.	Title	Theme	Episode Name	Series	Episode number	Air date
1	Jamie's School Dinners	Fussy eater	"Jamie's School Dinners"	6	01	18 September 2006
Jamie is obsessed with junk food and is forced to go on a diet.
2	Silence Is Golden	Manners and rudeness	"Silence is Golden"	5	10	7 April 2006
Dolores Bellicose enjoyed shouting because it made her the most heard person in her school. The school librarians are not impressed and plan to teach her a lesson.
3	The Old Tailor of Pelting Moor	N/A	"The Old Tailor of Pelting Moor"	6	10	18 October 2006
Jumbo Ferrari wants a new "life suit".
4	Her Majesty's Moley	Animal abuse	"Her Majesty's Moley"	5	11	10 April 2006
A girl called Mattie enjoys killing moles.
5	The Soul Stealer	Blackmail, abuse of power	"The Soul Stealer"	5	13	12 April 2006
A girl called Poppy is given a new mobile phone with a camera and uses it to blackmail people around her.
6	Nobby's Nightmare	N/A	"Nobby's Nightmare"	6	07	16 October 2006
Nobby finds it hard to distinguish whether he is in a dream or not.

The "Me!" Monsters (July 2007)

No.	Title	Theme	Cartoon Episode
No.	Title	Theme	Episode Name	Series	Episode number	Air date
1	The Apostrophic Expositor	N/A	"The Apostrophic Expositor"	2 (Grizzly Tales)	03	7 September 2011
N/A
2	Kiss And Make Up	Vanity	"Kiss and Make Up"	5	08	5 April 2006
Holly wants to have her first kiss and is visited by a (literal) two-faced fairy, who gives her advice and some makeup to look prettier.
3	The Kingdom of Wax	N/A	"Kingdom of Wax"	1 (Grizzly Tales)	11	9 May 2011
N/A
4	The Blood Doctor	N/A	"The Blood Doctor"	2 (Grizzly Tales)	01	5 September 2011
N/A
5	The Ugly Prince	N/A	"The Ugly Prince"	1 (Grizzly Tales)	03	3 May 2011
N/A
6	Big Head	Pride and arrogance	"Big Head"	6	11	18 October 2006
Sammy Slitherall becomes smug when he is picked as a team mascot.

Freaks of Nature (July 2007)

No.	Title	Theme	Cartoon Episode
No.	Title	Theme	Episode Name	Series	Episode number	Air date
1	Frank Einstein's Monster	N/A	"Frank Einstein's Monster"	2 (Grizzly Tales)	07	29 October 2012
N/A
2	Recyclops	Recycling	"Recyclops"	6	02	19 September 2006
N/A
3	The Weather Witch	N/A	"The Weather Witch"	5	07	4 April 2006
Jack Frost does not understand how horrible cold weather is, especially to the elderly.
4	William The Conkerer	Greed, arrogance	"William the Conkerer"	5	09	6 April 2006
William is determined to be the Conkers king of the school playground so he sneaks out of his house at midnight to destroy every conker tree in the area, angering a hermit who lives in a treehouse.
5	Hear No Weevil, See No Weevil	N/A	"Hear No Weevil See No Weevil"	1 (Grizzly Tales)	04	3 May 2011
N/A
6	Tom Time	Punctuality	"Tom Time"	6	13	19 October 2006
Tom is never on time for anything in his life and when science discovers that the end of the world is imminent, Tom's mother is determined to make him on time for the evacuation spaceships.

Terror Time Toys (February 2008)

No.	Title	Theme	Cartoon Episode
No.	Title	Theme	Episode Name	Series	Episode number	Air date
1	The Butcher Boy	Greed and attention-seeking	"The Butcher Boy"	5	02	28 March 2006
Gilbert is obsessed with money and fame, and does anything to be the richest boy in his school who gets the most attention.
2	The Bugaboo Bear	N/A	"The Bugaboo Bear"	5	01	27 March 2006
Emily gets a new teddy bear from the latest popular brand but soon becomes bored with it and starts to vandalise it.
3	Why Boys Make Better Burglars	N/A	"Why Boys Make Better Burglers"	6	04	21 September 2006
A burglar couple welcome a new son and his father cannot wait to teach him the family's tricks.
4	Puppet on a String	N/A	"Puppet on a String"	5	12	11 April 2006
N/A
5	The Death Rattle	N/A	"The Spelling Bee"	1 (Grizzly Tales)	12	N/A
N/A
6	eBoy	Computer addiction	"eBoy"	6	06	16 October 2006
N/A

Blubbers and Sicksters (February 2008)

No.	Title	Theme	Cartoon Episode
No.	Title	Theme	Episode Name	Series	Episode number	Air date
1	The Piranha Sisters	Gaslighting	"The Piranha Sisters"	6	12	19 October 2006
Dorothy May Piranha loves pranking her sister, Petey, but these pranks are malicious and warp Petey's common sense, which gets her in trouble with their parents. When Petey's birthday arrives, Dorothy May plans to make the party an unforgettable one, but a skeleton spirit warns her that her pranks might go horribly wrong.
2	The Crystal Eye	Selfishness	"A Grizzly New Year's Tale: The Crystal Eye"	4	15	31 December 2004
A boy is tired of sharing everything with his twin brother but then the family receives a mirror for Christmas.
3	Cat's Eyes	N/A	"Cat's Eyes"	1 (Grizzly Tales)	06	4 May 2011
A mean older sister tries to coerce her siblings into doing her wishes.
4	The Hair Fairies	N/A	"The Hair Fairies"	2 (Grizzly Tales)	02	6 September 2011
Fairies visit a boy when he envies his sister's hair.
5	The Watermelon Babies	wasting water	"The Watermelon Babies"	6	05	22 September 2006
Two sisters who live in a country suffering from a severe drought ignore the Hosepipe ban and abuse their power over water for their entertainment.
6	The Nuclear Wart	nuclear power, sibling rivalry	"The Nuclear Wart"	2 (Grizzly Tales)	13	2 November 2012
Tom and Jerry are brothers who despise each other to the point of their negative energy manifesting into an evergrowing wart.

The Gnaughty Gnomes of "NO!" (July 2008)

No.	Title	Theme	Cartoon Episode
No.	Title	Theme	Episode Name	Series	Episode number	Air date
1	Tinkerbell	N/A	"Tinklebell"	1 (Grizzly Tales)	01	2 May 2011
N/A
2	The Long Face	N/A	"The Long Face"	1 (Grizzly Tales)	10	6 May 2011
N/A
3	The Dragon Moth	N/A	"The Dragon Moth"	1 (Grizzly Tales)	09	6 May 2011
N/A
4	Sick To Death	N/A	"Sick To Death"	1 (Grizzly Tales)	02	2 May 2011
N/A
5	Message in a Bottle	N/A	"Message in a Bottle"	1 (Grizzly Tales)	07	5 May 2011
N/A
6	Lazybones	N/A	"Lazy Bones"	2 (Grizzly Tales)	06	10 September 2011
N/A

Superzeroes (July 2008)

No.	Title	Theme	Cartoon Episode
No.	Title	Theme	Episode Name	Series	Episode number	Air date
1	Fatal Attraction	Ego	"Nerves of Steel"	2 (Grizzly Tales)	04	—
N/A
2	Little Angel	Dishonesty	"Little Angel"	1 (Grizzly Tales)	08	5 May 2011
N/A
3	The Flat-Pack Kid	Destruction and vandalism	"The Flat Pack Kid"	1 (Grizzly Tales)	13	10 May 2011
N/A
4	The Worm	N/A	"The Worm"	2 (Grizzly Tales)	05	9 September 2011
N/A
5	The Little Flower Girl	N/A	"The Little Flower Girl"	2 (Grizzly Tales)	10	30 October 2012
N/A
6	The Rise And Fall of the Evil Guff	Manners and etiquete	"The Rise and Fall of The Evil Guff"	1 (Grizzly Tales)	05	4 May 2011
A boy uses flatulence to get his way.

A Grizzly Dozen (2009)

This was a compilation book containing stories from numerous books in the Grizzly Tales: Cautionary Tales for Lovers of Squeam! series.

The Grub A Blub Blub
Monty's Python
The Lobster's Scream
Wolf Child
The Fruit Bat
The Clothes Pigs
Jamie's School Dinners
Silence Is Golden
The Old Tailor of Pelting Moor
Her Majesty's Moley
The Soul Stealer
Nobby's Nightmare

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