Lily and Lucy live with their Grandad. At only six and nine and three quarters old, they are very worried when they discover their fun, loving, clever inventor Grandad, missing! They search high and low. He’s not in the house. He’s not in the garden, and he’s not even in his inventing shed. It has been a week, and they are not only worried about Grandad, but the fact they can’t tell anyone he’s missing in case they get taken back to the orphanage he found them in.

When a postcard in his inventions shed behaves a little strangely, they decide it’s a clue. They follow the information on it and discover themselves in a completely different world. Is Grandad here? Being very brave girls, they set off to look for him. The first thing they need to find is the village of Florez they saw on the front of the postcard.

What they do find is a surprising creature. A fox called Frederick who not only stands on two legs and is dressed rather dapperly, but he talks as well. This is only the first of the astounding but wonderful charms of the land they have found themselves in.

It’s not all happiness in joy however. Frederick tells them of a village nearby, once called Celestia but now ruled by a terrible tyrant who calls herself Queen Muck. Celestia became the village of Muck – a very sad, grey, grim place indeed.

Meanwhile… Queen Muck is planning something. Everything Frederick said about her is true, but times ten. She hates any happiness unless it’s hers. Anything nice, bright, lovely, beautiful or happy makes her want to puke. The village people and her palace staff only do what she demands as they are threatened constantly with being thrown in the tower cells.

Lily and Lucy won’t be put off by stories of Queen Muck, and their courage inspires others to stand up for themselves. Is Queen Muck finally going to meet her match? Can they keep their cool in dark underground tunnels, faced with gruesome giants and in front of the evil Queen herself? And where on Earth is Grandad?

Mix together a cup of Narnia, a large spoonful each of The BFG and Fantastic Mr Fox and then stir in some Bad Jelly the Witch, and you’re coming close to this wonderful adventure – Queen of Muck.

Narrated in a storyteller format, Queen of Muck is exciting, funny, with a truly nasty villain and a group of brave heroes willing to do anything to rescue their loved one. It’s not all straight forward good vs evil, though. Some characters have to dig deep to find their courage, whether to face Queen Muck for the first time or to stand up against her and risk her threats of the tower.

Illustrations are scattered through the pages and some sounds are emphasized by bold fonts or capital texts.

I can just imagine Spike Milligan reading this aloud, putting on all the voices of the characters.

Author – Isaac Thackray

Illustrator – Millie Perocheau

Age – 7+

(2021, Mary Egan Publishing, Humour, Funny, Laugh, Magical land, Talking Fox, Animals, Giants, Courage, Bravery, Greed, Fear, Nasty, Siblings, Grandparent, Quest, Rescue, Palace, Missing, Mystery, Fantasy, Read Aloud, NZ Author, New Zealand Author, Action, Adventure)