At this time of year, I love to dive into a good book that involves ghosts, monsters, vampires or mummies, so imagine my delight when I discovered that Theodora Hendrix and the Monstrous League of Monsters has all of that and more!
Left in the graveyard as a baby one Halloween, Theodora is discovered by Georgie the zombie and Bandit his cat who take her to their rather unconventional home, otherwise known as the Monstrous League of Monsters. Unfortunately, there is a slight problem as the League have a strict set of rules:
- Keep monsters hidden from humans
- Protect humans from bad monsters
- Help bad monsters become good monsters
Strictly speaking, the first rule means that the League should return the baby to the humans; however, as there are goblins who believe she would make a delicious treat and the humans within their locality aren't deemed suitable to bring up the baby, rule two comes into play. The League decide to keep this whole thing a secret, name the baby Theodora and she is brought up by the most unconventional of families. We then join Theodora when she is ten and find a happy girl who is quite at home amongst Mummy, Dracula, Sir Pumpkin-de-Patch and the others. But then anonymous letters begin to appear, covered in wax, which threaten to reveal the League's hidden secret ... Theodora!
This book is the perfect recipe for this time of year: full of a brilliant set of quirky characters, a mysterious plot that needs solving, some characters you'll enjoy hating (for me it was Ms Frumple) and just the right amount of eeriness for this time of year. Combine that with the chatty narration and quirky quips that accompany the main story (which added just enough humour and I personally loved) and you've got one heck of a book that will entice children and capture their imagination (I can see many wanting their own Sherman once they've finished reading!).
Theodora is one of those characters that I absolutely love to see in children's books: she's not afraid of breaking the rules (for all the right reasons, of course!), there's a fiery determination to her, she loves her family and has the best friends! Sherman the spider is a brilliant character, particularly his attire! (... and I'm afraid of spiders!) and his loyal to Theodora is evident throughout the book. And Dexter shows us that, no matter how scared you are, you can do anything if you really want to.
With a vibrant, shiny front cover and a host of illustrations by Chris Jevons that help to enhance the story, Theodora Hendrix and the Monstrous League of Monsters will be a monstrous hit this October!
No comments:
Post a Comment