What an amusing short story. I call it a short story because this is not a novel length book, but rather just snippets in time of a family that seemed to be pretty wild. And humourous, despite the trouble that Rob Wood and his three brothers got into, this book was definitely laugh out loud funny.
Rob Wood and his brothers had a penchant for getting in trouble. And with that trouble usually came the "lickins" from their father. Today we know "lickins" as spankings, in which the book is aptly named. With a little preface chapter showing the types of different spankings that could be achieved and the different rules that when broken, would warrant a spanking, we are introduced to these brothers and shown how easily they were able to make mischief. From there we are taken to the five greatest spankings of all time, and what was done to deserve them. And oh my did they ever get themselves into trouble. From decimating a pig roast, to spooking a horse, to burning down the garage, these boys definitely earned their "lickins".
I like the way that Wood describes himself and his brothers. He doesn't even try to pretend that they were well behaved. In fact, he even sympathizes with his parents and the exhaustion they must have felt trying to raise the three. The three are pretty wild and what my mother would call "all boy." And his parents are pretty entertaining too. The father gets more time in the book since he is the giver of the spankings, but the mother is mentioned a little bit. I actually would have liked to see more of her and some more in depth description of her reactions to the mischief. A little time is even devoted to the grandparents, who despite being against spankings, had to deal with the behavior as well.
The book, as said before, is short, but I actually think it was the perfect length. Sure Wood could have made it the ten greatest spankings of all time, but I think that would have gotten redundant after awhile and he did best by choosing just five. And the five he chose, I have to say I laughed out loud on about all four of them. The only one I really didn't involved the horse and I just didn't see as much humor in that one. Although it did show the different styles between the grandparents "lickins" and the parents "lickins." There's a little bit of bad language in this book, but it's mostly censored out and I can't say that it would be the type to offend anyone. In fact, the only ones who may have trouble with this book are those people who hate spanking. Which to be honest, I'm against abuse, but never spankings as they are intended to be, a punishment that is strictly controlled. But others don't share the same opinions and they may not find the humor in this book.
Definitely a good little read. I'd recommend it for anyone nostalgic for the fifties, or those who miss hanging out with their siblings, or those who just enjoy a good laugh. Because of all things this book will do, it will definitely make you laugh.
The 5 Greatest Spankings of All Time
Copyright 2012
102 pages
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