My Curious Uncle Dudley

Barry Yourgrau (author)

Tony Auth (illus)

Candlewick Press, USA: 2004; 211pp

ISBN: 0763619353

Genres: adventure, fantasy

Duncan Peckle is delighted when his parents decide to take a holiday and leave him under the care of his mysterious Uncle Dudley. Duncan is sure that something exciting is sure to happen as his uncle is always on his way back from some grand voyage, full of astonishing stories of bravery and derring-do.

Duncan soon finds, however, that Uncle Dudley is perhaps not quite as brave and successful as he has led his family to believe and soon they are up to their necks in any number of quite uncomfortable situations. The goblins Uncle Dudley tried to summon don't turn out to be quite as helpful as he had hoped, for example. And as for bubble riding on a clear evening - well, Duncan isn't sure whether he's ever going to get safely to the ground. The final straw, however, is a disastrous love potion that causes chaos in the neighbourhood.

There is very much an element of the sorcerer's apprentice about this episodic narrative. Young readers will enjoy the hilarious and imaginative misadventures the pair gets themselves into. Good clean fun, along the lines of Georges' Marvellous Medicine without the darker edge.