Goblins on the Prowl

Goblins on the Prowl is Bruce Coville's goblin adventure for 8 year olds, told by a girl with a secret and a collar she cannot get off.

What happens

Fauna lives on her own in the forest and prefers it that way. When five goblins come sneaking up the path she climbs a tree, because a girl living alone has to be careful, and then follows them home to watch them turn her cottage upside down looking for something called Blackstone.

They tidy up afterwards. Then they hide her cups and plates under the bed, because they are goblins.

Fauna takes the puzzle to Granny Pinchbottom, whose cottage is not there when she is out, and whose cauldron splits open the moment Fauna says the name Helagon out loud.

Granny sends her off with two presents. A bottle of Sleep Walk, which lets your spirit wander about while your body sleeps, and Solomon's Collar, which lets you talk to animals. The collar is meant for William. Fauna tries it on anyway.

It locks. And it tightens every single time she lies.

You can see the trouble coming from a long way off and it is still very funny when it lands. Fauna has spent her whole life lying to keep herself safe, and now she is at a party, being toasted by a baron, holding a present she has already stolen.

She is wonderful company. She doesn't like feeling more than one thing at a time, and she gets cross when a second feeling turns up, and then crosser about being cross. The squirrel who can suddenly talk to her makes nut puns. Igor carries a bear he uses for bopping people.

Your reader should know this is not the first book about William and Fauna. The goblins were freed from Toad-in-a-Cage Castle a year ago and that happened elsewhere, so a few names arrive already loaded.

Something to think about before you hand it over. Death is everywhere in the jokes here. Granny explains that if your body is killed while you are out Sleep Walking you become one of the wandering dead. The collar gets tight enough that Fauna wonders whether it will take her head off. A ghost turns up with the side of his head bashed in and is very polite about it.

None of it is gory and the tone stays light. But if your reader is the sort who lies awake after a creepy detail, that ghost will do it.

For a child who likes being a bit scared and laughing at the same time, this is a good fit. The prophecy in the mysterious book promises something much bigger coming.

What to read next

If they're curious about how William became a hero, and what Igor was doing down in that dungeon, Goblins in the Castle is where it all starts.