SuitabookCops and Robbers
Janet and Allan Ahlberg
- Reading
- Read it together and pause to identify the plan, the people affected and the choices made. Afterward, revisit the ending and discuss whether humour affects your view of the crime.
- Themes
- Crime and consequences: Robbers plan to steal toys, while Officer Pugh and his men act to stop them. The situation is clear, but the available details do not establish whether the story mainly condemns, excuses or complicates the wrongdoing.
- Humour and villainy: The robbers are described as comic villains in a story presented as a riotous, slapstick adventure. Humour may invite readers to enjoy the criminals as characters, but it does not by itself show that their behaviour is approved or rejected.
- Worth knowing
- Notice how the robbers and officers are represented, especially if comic action makes wrongdoing seem harmless. The book’s treatment of motives, fear, punishment and repair is not clear beforehand.