Review: Beatrix the Bold and the Curse of the Wobblers

From the moment the email about this book dropped into my inbox, I could see it was going to be exactly the kind of fun, energetic kids book I love, with the kind of heroine I can’t resist!

Book: Beatrix the Bold and the Curse of the Wobblers by Simon Mockler

Read before: No

Ownership: Review copy provided by Piccadilly Press free of charge. All opinions my own.

This book is a riot! You can tell from the awesome cover that it’s going to be a high-energy adventure with plenty of humour, and Cherie Zamazing’s great illustrations bring that same spirit to almost every page. The characters are larger than life, there’s plenty of jokes, and overall, this is just a joyful read. It would be an excellent read for girls and boys alike, as Beatrix is a lead that is really easy to connect with – she’s utterly irrepressible and you end up rooting for her straight away, against her calculating aunt and her warmongering (but rather dim) uncle. Add in a dog called Dog, a wizard called Wilfred, and a boy called Oi, and you’ve got a team of loveable, amusing characters to hang out with.

The humour is somewhat heavy on the bodily functions, with character names like Mrs Fartinpants and General Burpintime and a whole lot of pants, but this is never overly crude, and seems well-pitched for 7-9 year olds. Small illustrations push in at the corners of pages, and the text gets larger, bolder, smaller, etc in places, which makes this really fun to read. I certainly would have raced through it as a kid! But it’s Beatrix herself who really shines and drags you through the book as you try to keep up with her – a tiny queen in a pillowcase dress and big boots, determined to save her friends and her home from danger. She’s fantastic! I’m excited to see that there will be at least one sequel, because you get the feeling that there are very few quiet days in Beatrix’s life…

Beatrix the Bold is a lot of fun, and would be brilliant for kids who can’t go anywhere without having epic stick-sword battles, and for grown-ups who never lost those derring-do daydreams. Four out of five cats!