The Emperor's Gruckle Hound

You've never heard of a gruckle hound? Well, that's not surprising. 'Lots of people haven't. They're very rare and exotic, and not in any of the books. They're from Austria. They live in the mountains and hunt gruckles. That's why they're called gruckle hounds.' At least that's what young Fred, the gardener's assistant, tells the Emperor to get himself out of a spot of difficulty to do with muddling up the presents on the Emperor's birthday. Needless to say the beast in question is a scruffy mongrel and he has a twin brother out in the city who's been taken in by the tinker's daughter, Anna. In the palace Sam, the gruckle hound, gets used to a life of pampered luxury while outside Scruff gets up to all manner of doggy things. Chaos and confusion then reign when the two dogs inadvertently swop places. With a nod to 'The Emperor's New Clothes' and the role reversal genre, this is lots of fun for nine-year-olds and up.