One Beastly Beast: Two Aliens, Three Inventors, Four Fantastic Tales

This book actually contains one beast, two aliens, three inventors and four fantastic tales by the talented Garth Nix. To give you a feel for this book, in the first story Peter absent-mindedly trips on a sewer grate and falls into a tunnel inhabited by rat-pirates. The rat-pirates shrink him so he can navigate through the sewers to locate Captain Blacbread, the owner of the map that can show Peter the route back to his home. You get the feel of the humor and the tongue perhaps in the cheek here along with the great sense of adventure. Not to leave the girls out, in the next tale, Princess Chlorinda exclaims: 'There is a beastly beast on the battlement! A bloody beastly beast!' So, a preposterous predicament ensues. Story number three revolves around Inventor Bill who, as a baby, was found on the street wrapped in a very large banana peel and sent to the O'Squealin Home For Lost Children. We end with super-brain, Serena, and her challenge with the sea serpent problem in her city this summer. Great to read aloud or on your own. Fantastically silly tales. (M.G.)