Review: The Shark-Headed Bear-Thing by Barry Hutchison (illustrated by Chris Mould)

In an alternate 15th century, where dragons roam, sailing ships transform into submarines, and blacksmiths build steampunk robots, ten-year-old orphan Benjamin Blank battles monsters, rescues maidens and discovers fantastic new lands, but never quite manages to get his homework handed in on time.

Each adventure sees Ben and his friends, Paradise Little and Wesley Chant, face a new monstrous menace.

Benjamin Blank dreams of becoming a monster-vanquishing warrior. Unfortunately for Ben, his mechanical-armed blacksmith uncle feels that he just might be a little too young to be battling dangerous creatures such as ogres. However, when Paradise Little, a girl from a nearby village, begs Uncle Tavish for his help in destroying the monster that is terrorising them, mistaken in the belief that he is a warrior blacksmith, Ben steps up and offers his services. In desperation she reluctantly accepts his offer, and so begins an adventure involving a cowardly wizard called Wesley, a game of Burp or Death with a troll, and, of course, the climactic fight with the titular Shark-Headed Bear-Thing.

With his two fabulous Afterworlds books, author Barry Hutchison has already proved that he can write very funny stories for the older middle grade/lower YA audience. Now he has done just the same for 7+ kids. The Shark-Headed Bear-Thing is a pants-wettingly funny adventure story, with a misfit bunch of loveable and occasionally inept main characters. The story is complemented by the wonderfully comedic illustrations of Chris Mould that capture the hilarious tone of Hutchison's writing perfectly.

The Shark-Headed Bear-Thing is just the first in a series of adventures for Benjamin Blank and his new friends. The Swivel-Eyed Ogre-Thing was published in June, and the third book in the series, The Moon-Faced Ghoul-Thing, is due to be published in October. If the sequels are anything like the first book in the series then they will make perfect bedtime reading for young readers, either on their own or read by a parent. My thanks go to the wonderful people at Nosy Crow for sending me a copy to read.

Review: The Black Crow Conspiracy by Christopher Edge

It’s 1902. London is looking forward to the new King’s coronation and ignoring the threat of war from across the sea…

Penelope Tredwell, the pen behind bestselling author, Montgomery Flinch, is cursed with writer’s block. She needs a sensational new story or her magazine, The Penny Dreadful, will go under. So when a mysterious letter arrives, confessing to an impossible crime, Penny thinks she has found a plot to enthrall her readers: the theft of the Crown Jewels by the diabolical Black Crow.

Ghostly apparitions, kidnap and treason – this is the stuff of great stories. But what if it’s all true?

If you have not yet discovered the fantastic Penny Dreadful series by Christopher Edge then you are in for one hell of a treat. The Black Crow Conspiracy is the third book featuring main character Penelope Treadwell, a teen girl who inherited and now runs one of London's bestselling magazines, The Penny Dreadful. The magazine became so popular because of the grisly horror stories it prints, stories supposedly written by one Montgomery Flinch, but are in reality all penned by Penelope herself. However, this being the Victorian era, it would not be seemly for a young lady to be writing, let alone publishing, such macabre tales of horror. Penelope therefore employs an actor to be the public face of Montgomery Flinch, allowing her to write in secrecy. 

This is not straight historical fiction -the  first two books, Twelve Minutes to Midnight and Shadows of the Silver Screen, could quite easily be stories within the pages of The Penny Dreadful, with their mix of action, adventure and elements of the supernatural, and this third adventure for Penelope and her friends is no exception to this.

Several years have passed since the events of Shadows of the Silver Screen, and it appears that then good people of London have moved on. Sales of The Penny Dreadful have dropped as people begin to turn to stories of crime and detection, and naturally a certain Arthur Conan Doyle gets a mention. To make matters even worse, Penelope is suffering from severe writer's block, and is struggling to get even a handful of worthy words written, let alone a whole story. 

In an attempt to get over this Penelope comes with the idea of running a competition, whereby members of the public can submit story ideas, in the hope that some of them will be suitable for publication. Naturally, most of them are a load of guff, but one in particular gets Penelope's creative juices flowing, and it is soon in print. Unfortunately for Penny, and even more so for Monty, the story happens to perfectly reflect a dastardly crime that took place weeks before the story was published, and he is carted off my the police under suspicion of stealing the Crown Jewels. So begins an adventure that see Penelope and her friends chasing down a villain who has his eyes on one thing only - the throne of Britain itself.

I loved the first two books in this series, so when I received a copy of The Black Crow Conspiracy from the fab people at Nosy Crow I was both excited, and also a little concerned as to whether writer Christopher Edge would be able to maintain the quality in a third book. My concerns were completely unfounded, and in fact this turned out to be my favourite of the three. Rather cleverly, in my opinion, Christopher Edge has moved his characters and their story on by jumping ahead two years. Victoria has passed away and with Edward on the throne a new era is blooming in Britain. Europe too is changing rapidly, and politics across the continent are becoming increasingly complex, with various nations jostling for superiority. Christopher Edge uses all of these historical events to construct a fast-paced mystery story, with his trademark elements of the supernatural, and a very believable alternate history plot.

This book and its predecessors are perfect for 9+ readers, and they have equal appeal to boys and girls. Penelope is a great protagonist, and anyone who claims that boys do not enjoy stories with a female main character should be shown this book as an example that debunks that myth. In Penelope, Christopher Edge has created a female lead who is both a superb role model for girls, and also a kick-ass heroine who does not need to reply on a male character to save the day for her, despite living in an era when young women were expected to be demure and 'proper', with only a life of being a wife and mother to look forward to.

If you have a child who loves action and adventure stories then this series is well worth putting into their hands. Although there are supernatural elements, there is little in these books that is really scary, but enough to keep them excitedly turning the pages to find out what perils will befall our heroine next. Additionally, the historical aspects of the story may also engender an increased interest in the history of this era.

Review: Robots v Gorillas in the Desert (Mega Mash-Up) by Nikalas Catlow and Tim Wesson

Deep in the desert, Gorillas trade the oil under their city for bananas grown by hi-tech Robots. But after Gadget the Great accidentally sends 10,000 volts of electricity up King Well-Hairy's nose, the robots and gorillas decide to sort things out once and for all: whoever wins will have all the oil and all the bananas. Which side will manage to avoid the garlic burp-breath sand slugs? Who will be deceived by the banana sundae mirages? And when will they realise that they forgot to agree on a finishing line?

I read a huge amount as a child, but I had friends who didn't. I have had conversations with them as adults, and looking back they feel that reading was too passive an activity for them. They couldn't sit still long enough to follow a story, and even on a wet day they would give up and go an do something else instead. A couple of them state that they can remember the moment books started to become more interesting, and it was when they first discovered Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Warlock of Firetop Mountain, the first book in their long-running and phenomenally successful Fighting Fantasy series. Even though these friends were sport mad, and would treat anyone who played Dungeons and Dragons with disdain, this create your own adventure story, and all those that followed, struck a chord with them and all of a sudden they were reading books during school break times, swapping them one they had been completed. These books made reading a fun pastime for them and many of them are still avid readers today thanks to these books.

There are many, many choose your own adventure books around these days (including the oft re-published Fighting Fantasy series), but now author/illustrators Nikalas Catlow and Tim Wesson, in conjunction with Nosy Crow, a relatively new independent publisher of children's books, have come up with a great new concept that makes reading even more interactive for the 6+ age group. They have recognised that children love activity books, and whilst many boys may be reluctant to pick up a book and read they are often more than happy to sit doodling for hours, often with very comedic results. Why not, then, produce a book that tells a story, include crazy and hilarious illustrations, but also leave spaces for the reader to fill in further illustrations using their own imaginations?

But the cleverness doesn't stop there. Nosy Crow did a survey, asking boys in this age group what they really liked, the results of which can be found here, and they they used this list in the creation of the Mega Mash-Up books. And so we have titles like: Robots v Gorillas in the Desert, and Romans v Dinosaurs on Mars (both published last month), and coming up in June, Pirates Ancient Egyptians in a Haunted Museum, and Aliens v Mad Scientists Under the Ocean. Pure genius!

I have a copy of Robots v Gorillas in the Desert in front of me at the moment, and it is brilliant. I can't believe there is a 6-9 year old boy out there who will not be enchanted by this book, and if they are as cool as this one the rest in the series as well. Marketed well and given the exposure they deserve, these books could become huge, with boys comparing their drawings and ideas in the playground, having competitions as to who can come up with the coolest doodles and additions to the story.  If you are a parent of a boy in this age range you would be a fool not to get these for your son, and they should certainly become must-haves for those long holiday journeys and wet afternoons during school holidays. 

Nosy Crow also have a fantastic Mega Mash-Up website with all kinds of cool extra stuff, as well as a gallery where young readers can have their own doodles in the books showcased. My thanks go to the publishers for sending me a copy of the book to review.