Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids facts for kids

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 called Grizzly Tales, is a popular series of children's books by British author Jamie Rix. These books later became an animated TV show with the same name. The series is known for its funny, dark, and sometimes scary stories. It was very popular with both kids and adults. The cartoon became one of the most-watched shows on CITV in the 2000s.

A new version of the cartoon, called Grizzly Tales: Cautionary Tales for Lovers of Squeam!, came out in 2011. It had 26 episodes and aired on Nickelodeon UK and NickToons UK. The first four books were published between 1990 and 2001. While they are no longer printed, you can still listen to them as audiobooks on Audible and iTunes. Honeycomb Animation made the ITV cartoon, which aired from 2000 to 2006.

Each story in the Grizzly Tales series is a cautionary tale. These tales show what happens when children act badly. The stories are often very imaginative and a bit over-the-top. It's up to you to decide if they are scary or just funny! The series is usually seen as children's horror. When the books were made into cartoons, each chapter became a ten-minute episode. The famous actor Nigel Planer narrated them.

Critics really liked the series. They praised how it mixed horror and strange ideas with the silliness often found in children's books. The Daily Telegraph said the cartoon was a fun mix of authors like Roald Dahl. The Sunday Times called them "superior morality stories."

What are Grizzly Tales about?

The Grizzly Tales series tells short stories, much like a horror show with different tales in each episode. Each story usually starts by showing a main character's normal day. Then, something changes, like getting a new toy or making a bad choice. This change always leads to trouble for the character. They often get into a situation where their own bad actions cause their downfall.

At the end of the story, the main character might be:

• Killed
• Hurt badly
• Changed into something else
• Kidnapped by something supernatural

These stories often feature children who misbehave, like being lazy, greedy, vain, or lying. Their parents or guardians usually don't stop them. Sometimes, the parents even encourage the bad behavior, ignore it, or are too weak to punish their children. However, some stories are about adults, or take place in the past.

Book Series Details

Fun Facts About the Books

The stories in Grizzly Tales happen in many different places. Some are in made-up versions of real English towns. Others are in completely fictional places. Not all stories are set in the UK. For example, "It's Only a Game, Sport!" takes place in Australia.

The names of the characters often give clues about their personalities. For instance, Mr. and Mrs. Frightfully-Busy are always working. Johnny Bullneck is a mean school bully. Serena Slurp is very greedy. Some names are just silly, like Fedora Funkelfink, who is a con artist. The Crumpdump family are rich and go hunting just to impress their spoiled kids.

Some of the punishments in the stories are based on puns or wordplay. For example, loud Dolores from "Silence is Golden" is turned into a gold statue. "Kiss and Make Up" is about a girl who uses makeup to get her first kiss. Other story titles are references to famous movies or plays, like "Fatal Attraction" or "The Big Sleep".

The stories often deal with problems that kids (and their parents) can relate to. These include:

• Watching too much TV
• Fighting with brothers or sisters
• Trying to fit in with friends
• Not being clean
• Refusing to eat dinner
• Not being on time

But some stories also cover bigger issues like theft and deforestation. "An Elephant Never Forgets" even has a message against hunting.

The stories feature many different magical or strange characters:

• Witch doctors
• Poltergeists (ghosts that move objects)
• Salesmen who trick people
• Fairies
• Talking animals
• Aliens
• Objects that come to life (like drawings)
• Witches
• Cursed objects

Sometimes, regular people can be villains too, like Farmer Tregowan, who uses very harsh punishments. Children in the stories might be changed into animals, eaten, kidnapped, or even turned into food. Because many parents in the stories don't pay attention or discipline their kids, the bad things that happen often don't seem to affect the parents much. Some busy parents don't even notice their child has been hurt or disappeared!

However, some stories have happy or bittersweet endings. These are usually when a character learns from their bad behavior and changes for the better before things get too bad.

Book List

Television Series

Two animated TV shows based on the books were made between 2000 and 2012. They aired on CITV and NickToons. Both shows were created by Honeycomb Animation and Jamie Rix's own company. Nigel Planer was the narrator for the cartoons, playing the character Uncle Grizzly.

The first cartoon aired on CITV from January 2000 to October 2006. The second cartoon aired on Nicktoons from May 2011 to November 2012.

Merchandise and Audiobooks

For a short time in 2011, you could buy digital versions of the first four books for Kindle.

Nigel Planer narrated the TV series as Uncle Grizzly. He also read the audiobook for Fearsome Tales for Fiendish Kids. Other audiobooks were narrated by Bill Wallis and Andrew Sachs. Orion Audiobooks also released full CD recordings of the books, read by Rupert Degas.

Awards and Nominations

Both the books and the TV shows have won awards and been nominated for their work.

Books

Television

List of Published Short Stories

Most of the stories Jamie Rix wrote for Grizzly Tales were adapted from his books. Here are some examples of the stories and their themes:

From Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids (1990)

• The New Nanny: About being mean and telling lies.
• The Spaghetti Man: About being aggressive and refusing to eat dinner.
• Glued to the Telly: About watching too much TV and being lazy.
• The Barber of Civil: About being rude and having bad manners.
• The Litter Bug: About littering and making a mess.
• Sweets: About being spiteful and causing trouble.
• The Childhood Snatcher: About growing up too fast and losing your youth.

From Ghostly Tales for Ghastly Kids (1992)

• Grandmother's Footsteps: About being scared and facing fears.
• Burgers: About deforestation and greed.
• Tag: About envy and theft.
• The Locked Door: About being too curious.
• An Elephant Never Forgets: About greed and spoiled children.
• Bogman: About laziness and avoiding chores.
• A Lesson From History: About laziness and not studying.

From Fearsome Tales for Fiendish Kids (1996)

• The Cat Burglar: About being dishonest and tricking people.
• Mr. Peeler's Butterflies: About refusing to sleep.
• Fat Boy with a Trumpet: About bullying.
• The Chipper Chums Go Scrumping: About theft and getting caught.
• Death By Chocolate: About eating too much and blackmail.
• Well'ard Willard: About telling lies and peer pressure.
• Doctor Moribundus: About lying to get out of school.
• The Stick Men: About child neglect and finding comfort in imagination.
• Bessy O'Messy: About laziness and being messy.
• Jack in a Box: About always wanting attention.

From More Grizzly Tales For Gruesome Kids (2001)

• Knock Down Ginger: About being mean to older people.
• The Upset Stomach: About being cruel to animals.
• The Gas Man Cometh: About making prank calls.
• The Urban Fox: About hunting and protecting animals.
• Spoilsport: About being spiteful and ruining fun for others.
• Dirty Bertie: About personal hygiene and not keeping clean.
• It's Only a Game, Sport!: About being a sore loser.
• Revenge of the Bogeyman: About nose-picking.
• Crocodile Tears: About telling lies and faking emotions.
• Bunny Boy: About being a fussy eater.
• Superstitious Nonsense: About making up lies and superstitions.
• Head in the Clouds: About not paying attention and daydreaming too much.
• When The Bed Bugs Bite: About biting people.
• The Grass Monkey: About theft and trying to impress others.

From Nasty Little Beasts (April 2007)

• The Grub A Blub Blub: About laziness and refusing to leave your room.
• Monty's Python: About sibling rivalry and being mean to animals.
• The Fruit Bat: About being a fussy eater and not eating fruit.
• The Clothes Pigs: About laziness and greed.

From Gruesome Grown Ups (April 2007)

• Jamie's School Dinners: About being obsessed with junk food.
• Silence Is Golden: About bad manners and shouting too much.
• Her Majesty's Moley: About being cruel to animals.
• The Soul Stealer: About blackmail and abusing power.

From The "Me!" Monsters (July 2007)

• Kiss And Make Up: About vanity and wanting to look pretty.
• Big Head: About pride and arrogance.

From Freaks of Nature (July 2007)

• Recyclops: About recycling.
• William The Conkerer: About greed and arrogance in games.
• Tom Time: About punctuality and always being late.

From Terror Time Toys (February 2008)

• The Butcher Boy: About greed and wanting attention.
• The Bugaboo Bear: About vandalizing toys.
• eBoy: About being addicted to computers.

From Blubbers and Sicksters (February 2008)

• The Piranha Sisters: About playing mean pranks and tricking others.
• The Crystal Eye: About selfishness and not sharing.
• The Watermelon Babies: About wasting water during a drought.
• The Nuclear Wart: About sibling rivalry and negative energy.

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

• The Long Face: About being grumpy.
• Lazybones: About being lazy.

From Superzeroes (July 2008)

• Fatal Attraction: About ego and being self-centered.
• Little Angel: About dishonesty.
• The Flat-Pack Kid: About vandalism and destroying things.
• The Rise And Fall of the Evil Guff: About using flatulence to get your way.

A Grizzly Dozen (2009)

This book was a collection of stories from other Grizzly Tales books. It included:

• 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