Grimwood: Attack of the Stink Monster!

Nadia Shireen's Grimwood: Attack of the Stink Monster is a gloriously silly forest adventure for 7 year olds about a wedding, a whiff and some very big footprints.

What happens

Ted and Nancy are two fox cubs who came to Grimwood from the Big City. Ted loves songs and his cuddly slipper. His big sister Nancy is tough, grumpy and drinks far too much coffee.

Lately Nancy's been having bad dreams. Sloshy noises, squawking birds and somebody whistling a tune she can't quite remember. She's starting to wonder about the mum and dad she and Ted never knew.

Meanwhile the whole forest is getting ready for a squirrel wedding. Titus the stag is baking an enormous cake. Sharon the Party Crow is going to DJ. And down by the Swamp of Despair there's a horrible smell and a trail of massive footprints.

Willow the bunny finds a tatty old book of monsters in the library and decides they're all going to be MONSTER HUNTERS. (She also gets her very first library card, and she's extremely proud of it.)

It's brilliant for reading aloud. Everyone talks in their own daft voice, and the narrator keeps butting in, even to tell you a worm said hiya. Nothing stays serious for long, not even a visit to the doctor, who happens to be a pigeon.

A word of warning, though. The humour is cartoon-style and a bit dark in places. Straight after the wedding kiss, Pamela the eagle swoops down and eats the bride and groom! It's played completely for laughs (everyone carries on with the disco). Later Nancy is knocked out by a falling tyre, though she's fine by morning.

Most children will shriek at that. If yours is soft-hearted about animals, it might be one to read together.

Under all the silliness there's a sweet story about Ted and Nancy looking after each other. Who could resist a big sister who'd face a monster for her little brother?

What to read next

This isn't the foxes' first adventure. Their story begins in the very first Grimwood book, which opens with the two of them still living in the Big City.