I don’t know if you do storybook records, but…
Maybe it was a written book too? I have this very distinct memory of a children’s story record I used to listen to as a kid (probably in the early ’90s). It was a kind of dark fantasy adventure story where this outcast boy runs away from home with promises of wonderland and winds up in this awful, prison-like school. He winds up helping lead the rest of the kids to overthrow the grownups and escape. The reluctant hero (or possibly one of the other kids in the story?) has some kind of an OCD thing where he has to repeat things multiple times and I want to say his nickname was something to that effect, like Freddie Five-Times or Tommy Two-Times.
I never listened to the audio version, but my sister and I loved the book (which has great line drawings that really add to the story). The book is JACOB TWO TWO MEETS THE HOODED FANG by Mordecai Richler. The main character is Jacob who is the youngest in a big family and is so used to being ignored that he says everything twice to ensure that he is heard. This habit earns him his nickname and also lands him in trouble. A shopkeeper thinks that Jacob js being insolent so he calls the police and poor Jacob gets sent to kid prison. That’s where he meets the wrestler The Hooded Fang. It is very over he top in the style of Roald Dahl. The author wrote 2 other books about Jacob Two Two, but IMHO they aren’t as good.
Holy gracious, that’s totally it! I even found the album version!! http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/christopher_plummer/jacob_two_two_meets_the_hooded_fang/
You’re amazing. Thank you so much!
Jen,
Out of curiosity, did you and your sister have the edition illustrated by Dusan Petricic? Or was it the 1975 first edition? I can’t tell if that first one had illustrations or not.
Thanks again!
Alison
We had an orange paperback copy from the 1970s that had the same illustrations as that sound recording. I believe the illustrator was Fritz Wegner. I came across this site that shows the cover and some interior illustrations from the 1975 hardcover edition (we had the paperback version, same illustrations)
http://www.rubylane.com/item/530503-BB1161/Jacob-Two-Two-Meets-Hooded-Fang
And I saw that were even more Jacob Two Two books, plus 2 movies and a tv show! Apparently, he was a big deal in Canada.