The Day Louis Got Eaten

When little brother Louis is swallowed by a Gulper, Sarah resolves to rescue him. ‘UNFORTUNATELY…’, when she has almost caught up with the monster, he is swallowed by a Grabular; and, at each subsequent page turn there is an unfortunate event, as ever bigger monsters pounce to feast, and to frustrate Sarah. Each beast provides Sarah with a fresh challenge in her pursuit, requiring her to adapt her bike and the contents of her rucksack for flying, underwater paddling, land surfing and mountaineering. Fardell’s roly-poly monsters are fun and Sarah’s problem solving is ingenious and amusing, particularly the way that she contrives Louis’s release without any monsters dying. Fardell is an expert at adapting comic book techniques to the picture book and this could have an appeal from infants to (almost) teens.