Grimwood

This children’s comedy is about friendship and family and is completely, and utterly, bonkers.

Grimwood is a paradise for animals (or so it seems) which offers the perfect protection for the young fox, Ted, and his protective sister, Nancy. Lifelong city dwellers, the siblings are forced to escape to the country after a rather unfortunate incident by the bins outside Speedy Chicken results in the violent mobster cat, Princess Buttons, swearing her revenge upon Ted. She is a frightful villain with a steely determination, and offers a sense of peril throughout the book that is only just observable amidst all the silliness.

Arriving in Grimwood, Ted and Nancy have to adapt to a new way of life – one where it is perfectly normal for hordes of warring squirrels to swing through the skies screaming ‘Treebonk’ as they wallop into tree trunks. Under the stewardship of the kindly mayor (Titus, the cardigan-wearing deer), the pair soon settle in and, when Ted realises that he is just the talent that The Grimwood Players need for their upcoming performance, he begins to believe that there may be more to life than fishing food from big bins. However, some things really are too good to be true, and it might be that Grimwood isn’t a foolproof hiding place from vengeful felines after all.

The book is genuinely hilarious and will have children giggling to themselves and sharing their favourite pages with friends. The primary source of the comedy is the large cast of very original (and totally ridiculous) animals, each of whom seem to arrive just when readers might think things couldn’t get any funnier. Some particular highlights include the happy-go-lucky rat, Binky Snuffhausen, the sometimes-good-sometimes-evil genius mouse, Dr Fairybeast, and Pamela – a frightening raptor with a penchant for podcasting and a paranoia about aliens. The enigmatic Eric Dynamite (a woodlouse) helps to keep the story on track by way of occasional commentary and explanation, and there are plenty of charming, cartoon illustrations that add much to the carnival atmosphere, too.

Reading this debut by Nadia Shireen is like taking a walk through the woods with a clown – never more than a few paces away from another stupidly silly joke or slapstick gag. Children will love it.