Grimwood: Laugh your head off with the funniest new series of the year

Foxes on the run! A evil cat out for revenge! Squirrels in leotards! Fox cub siblings Ted and Nancy are being chased by Princess Buttons - the scariest street cat in the Big City. Running for their lives, the pair flees for Grimwood - a peaceful town in the countryside. The only problem? Grimwood is NOT as they expected.

When Ted and Nancy, fox cub siblings, escape to Grimwood, instead of peace and quiet, they’re met with thieving eagles, dramatic ducks, riotous rabbits, and a whole host of unusual characters. Grimwood is . . . weird. But when Princess Buttons tracks them down, they must unite with the other animals of Grimwood in a mind-bending race against time!

Eric Dynamite, the woodlouse, has paused from his job as a bus driver to lead us through this hilarious story, right from page one. The characters are carefully introduced to allow the young reader to follow the plot and enjoy the fun and laughter with the characters as the story develops. The illustrations have been beautifully drawn to add to the chaos and mayhem in the story and have been the topic of many interesting conversations and giggles.

If you are a fan of animal stories, looking for a book that has both humour and adventure, then look no further. Grimwood is certain to be able to inspire even the most reluctant reader to pick up a book and look forward to the opportunity to read the next chapter.

This would make a wonderful class story, guided reading study text or a book for a child to enjoy reading on their own. Just make sure that you are somewhere where you are able to laugh out loud as I know that it will happen as you read this book!

256 pages / Ages 6+ / Reviewed by Amanda Shipton, teacher

Suggested Reading Age 5+

Grimwood is probably best for those who are Year 2 and 3, although younger children would enjoy it being read to them. It is described as 'anarchic, original, gloriously silly and savagely funny.' I would agree with all those statements...if you are a young child. Children will enjoy the different characters. Princess Buttons the evil cat was my favourite.

The story begins with the two main characters Ted and Nancy the foxes who like to visit the bins outside Speedy Chicken. The animals in the city share the food and have one bin each but Princess Buttons takes over Speedy Chicken and is evil to everyone. Ted bites her tail off which makes her very angry and as a result Ted and Nancy go on the run to escape from Princess Buttons.

I like the layout of the book. Children will enjoy the pictures and the different fonts. However, I really did not like the story. It didn't grip me at all. I found myself bored and couldn't wait to finish the book. The humour side is definitely aimed at children but I have to be honest, this is not a book that I would be enthusiastic about and I wouldn't want to read it to my class.

256 pages / Reviewed by Catherine Kus

Suggested Reading Age 7+