Monday, 25 May 2015

The Shark-Headed Bear-Thing - Book Review



Barry Hutchison
The Shark-Headed Bear-Thing
Nosy Crow, 2015
Paperback
210pp £5.99 ISBN 978-0-85763-269-2

What do you do when adventure beckons? Do you hide and tremble under the bed covers and hope it goes away or do you gallantly strive towards strange looking beasty-things brandishing your wooden sword?

Benjamin Blank is summoned for the adventure he’s been craving when a diminutive girl named Paradise, comes knocking on his door seeking a great warrior to save her village from a terrorising monster. Unfortunately, there’s no monster vanquishing hero in sight and Ben steps in to answer the call to slay the Shark-Headed Bear-Thing. Joined by the hapless wizard, Wesley, with sleeves so deep that he may one day find a tonic of courage, the trio head off in an attempt to save everyone from the creature with the head of a shark, the body of a bear and a bunny’s tail.

First time author, Barry Hutchison, apparently has a family that is unappreciative of his jokes and sense of humour, but lucky for his young readers, he’s found a method with his writing to search for a new audience. Entertaining from first page to last, Barry Hutchison’s humorous ‘The Shark-Headed Bear-Thing’ is the beginning of heroic adventures involving strange monster-things.

Children 8-10, 10-12

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