Meet Mammoth

Ogg and Bob #1

by Ian Fraser, Mary Fraser (Illustrator)

Ogg and Bob are cavemen. They’re also best friends. Ogg is good at thinking of things for the two friends to do together. Bob is good at solving the problems that he and Ogg encounter. But what happens when these two cavemen decide to get a pet mammoth? With simple text, funny "caveman speak," and full-color illustrations on every page, these delightful chapter books are a treat for children.

Genres: Humor, Childrens

64 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2010

About the author

Ian Fraser is a South African playwright, writer, and comedian, now living in the USA. His memoir, My Own Private Orchestra, published by Penguin Books, was nominated for the CNA Literary Award in 1994.
His plays won a variety of national South African Literary and Theater prizes.
Recently, his plays were produced at the Brown/Trinity Playwrights Repertory Theater in Providence, RI and at Garioch Theatre Festival in the United Kingdom. Fraser was a nationally-syndicated columnist for the Johannesburg daily The Star, and wrote a weekly "Fraser's Razor" column for the Mail and Guardian.

Reviews

[Nancy Kotkin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two grown cavemen, described as "best friends", live together in the same cave and argue a lot. Despite this, they decide a woolly mammoth would make a good pet and attempt to capture one, only to be rescued from their pit by the woolly mammoth. The rest of the story involves escaping from a saber-toothed tiger, then naming and training their new pet.

Not a fan of the caveman-speak, which feels derogatory, as does the fact that the cavemen are so dim-witted. The primary function of an early chapter book, such as this one, is to teach young children to read and to write; the caveman dialect makes this book a poor role model.

[Kate Hastings · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grades 1-3. RL 280. Ogg and Bob (no relation to Ook and Gluk) are two cavemen trying to capture a Mammoth. Grammar fanatics should skip this one, but children will LOVE the caveman speak! You read this book. It good.

[Barb Middleton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ogg and Bob are not the brightest cavemen. But they are very funny. They want to catch a woolly mammoth and make him their pet. Their adventure begins when they fall into the trap they have set for the mammoth, escape a saber-tooth tiger, and finally catch the mammoth as a pet through dumb luck. The two learn it is hard work training a mammoth as a pet and requires some responsibility.

Students laughed at the stupidity of these two cartoonish characters who use caveman talk such as ”Me see mammoth” and “Me catch mammoth.” One girl interrupted the story in disgust and said, “They aren’t talking with the right grammar!” The humor is slapstick and silly. Some children really like how idiotic these two are and others don’t like it as well. I read the book to seven classes using my best cave-speak and had a blast.

The book has three episodic chapters. The two dorks capture the mammoth in the first chapter, train the mammoth in the second chapter, and put the mammoth to bed in the third chapter. There is repetition of words such as headache and clues from the illustrations to go with the text such as when they plug the trunk of the mammoth with a rock. The vocabulary is simple and it is a good text for grades 1 and 2. I sure had fun reading thisbook out loud.

[Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would give this 3 1/2. In this series opener, dim-witted cavemen Ogg and Bob want a pet. As cavemen, bringing home a Mammoth and naming it Mug is the obvious solution! They soon learn though that having a pet and training it is not just a fun adventure but also a lot of work! This beginning reader/early chapter book has short, humorous chapters with appealing full color illustrations that add much to the spare text. The series will appeal to boys and reluctant readers who want to find out what sorts of trouble Ogg, Bob and Mug will run into next, but I hesitate to give it more stars because the clipped, nonstandard dialogue may confuse the emerging readers who are the intended audience for the series. ~s

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ogg and Bob Meet Mammoth by Ian Fraser and Mary Ann Fraiser is an easy to read beginning chapter book. This book stars Ogg and Bob who decide to adopt a Mammoth. The two talk in cave man speak which makes the book much more simple for young readers. The several chapters are easy to read and in full color and silly enough to make kids ask for more.

I would recommend this book to readers 5-8

Review copy provided by Amazon Vine

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mammoth saves cavemen Ogg and Bob from not only a deep pit, but also a saber-toothed tiger. So, Ogg and Bob decide to make the mammoth they name Mug their pet. But will Mug make a good pet?

[kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

5 year old thought it was funny. Better as a read alone than a read aloud.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 6 year old daughter gave this book 5 stars. She says,"I loved this book. It was so funny. I liked it because the tiger was trying to eat the cavemen and they said "na-na-na-na-na!""

[Hilarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Daughter Enjoyed it

My Daughter enjoyed the "cave speak" used by the characters. The illustrations were great and added a lot to the story.

[Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two cavemen decide to get a mammoth.