The Scarecrow and his Servant

I have an increasing suspicion that this Oxford-based author would like to follow in the footsteps of Lewis Carroll. If this latest novel is anything to judge by, his own Alice in Wonderland is just around the corner. A scarecrow of enterprise and talent, accompanied by his personal servant Jack, sets off on an increasingly bizarre set of adventures in search of his own Eldorado. Lord Scarecrow, as he comes to be called, falls in love with a broomstick, joins an army and a troupe of actors, defeats brigands, converses with hoes and rakes, and suffers from an acute case of woodworm. Indeed, his every component particle is scattered to the four winds in the course of his adventures. The narrative is peopled with characters as diverse and zany as Mr Pandolfo, the Buffalonis, Granny Raven and Mr Cercorelli.

Foremost in The Scarecrow and his Servant are Pullman’s skills in shaping an unfolding story with brilliantly interwoven episodes and cliff-hanging chapter ends, as is his partiality for word play and classical references that send young readers scurrying to their dictionaries. Bailey’s line drawings punctuate the text and suitably capture much of the whimsy and frenzy of this engaging tale.