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Books by
Paul Stewart
BARNABY GRIMES: RETURN OF THE EMERALD SKULL
(with Chris Riddell)
BARNABY GRIMES: CURSE OF THE NIGHT WOLF
(with Chris Riddell)
MUDDLE EARTH
(with Chris Riddell)
A LITTLE BIT OF WINTER
Books by
Chris Riddell
BARNABY GRIMES: RETURN OF THE EMERALD SKULL
(with Paul Stewart)
BARNABY GRIMES: CURSE OF THE NIGHT WOLF
(with Paul Stewart)
OTTOLINE AND THE YELLOW CAT
OTTOLINE GOES TO SCHOOL
MUDDLE EARTH
(with Paul Stewart)
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BARNABY GRIMES: CURSE OF THE NIGHT WOLF
by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell
David Fickling Books/Random House
ISBN: 9780385751254
Ages 8-12
224 pages
Above the streets of the city, a tick-tock lad highstacks across the rooftops. The young man, Barnaby Grimes, like all other tick-tockers, spends his days delivering messages and running errands for the doctors, lawyers, professors and others who pay him for the service. Scruffy but charming, Barnaby is one of the fastest tick-tocks in the business. All is well with him until the night his friend disappears. That same night he meets a vicious wolf high above the city.
CURSE OF THE NIGHT WOLF, a fast-paced and sometimes violent chapter book, introduces readers to the latest creation of Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell. Barnaby is a likable and fantastic hero who is as quick-witted as he is nimble-footed. While he has had many adventures before this one, he admits his encounter with the wolves stalking his city, and their sly creator, is his most dangerous yet.
It all starts when Barnaby's life-long friend, Old Benjamin, goes missing. He finds the battered chair in which Old Benjamin spent his days broken and blood-spattered but few other clues to go on. However, Barnaby does remember talk of "Doctor Cadwallader's Cordial," an elixir Old Benjamin took to ease his horrible cough. While the tonic seemed to be healing his friend, Barnaby doubted it was anything more than the typical syrup sold by unscrupulous quacks. But soon he rethinks that idea and finds himself in business with the strange Dr. Cadwallader himself.
As Barnaby delivers messages for the doctor, he continues to try to solve the mystery of Old Benjamin's disappearance. Soon he finds himself part of the violence and mayhem sweeping the city and learns the sad truth as to why it is all happening.
Stewart's prose is sharp and interesting. Barnaby's world is part Victorian London and part dystopian future, and the action is lively and page-turning. Riddell's black and white illustrations are fantastic --- creepy, lovely and detailed, perfectly capturing Stewart's spooky and exciting narration. While the large type and easily solved mystery imply a story for younger readers, the werewolf encounters are perhaps a bit too frightening and graphic for kids younger than 10 but is sure to entertain older ones.
There is even a bit of a romantic subplot that finds Barnaby fancying a young lady in the midst of the trouble herself.
CURSE OF THE NIGHT WOLF is the debut in a series of Barnaby Grimes books. While there are a few kinks here, the style --- both written and visual --- promises much fun, horror and originality in the future.
--- Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman
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