Here Be Monsters! (The Ratbridge Chronicles, Volume 1)

Better known as an illustrator, Snow has written an amiable, at times surreal story accompanied by hundreds of fantastic black ink drawings, executed in a style half way between Mervyn Peake and Edward Gorey. It describes how young Arthur becomes trapped in the town of Ratbridge, unable to return to his former home underground where he lives with his now dependent, self-appointed grandfather. But fortunately Arthur then falls in with a friendly crowd of boxtrolls, cabbage-heads, talking cheeses, rats and pirates, all presided over by Willbury Nibble Q.C. Together they set out to save the town from the evil Snatcher and his gang, out for control ultimately of the whole world. Written at a good pace in user-friendly large print, the chief attraction of this yarn has to be its amazing illustrations, often taking up a whole page and lavish with mock-gothic detail. It’s not often a text gets as generously illustrated as this these days, and some of the architectural drawings are particularly atmospheric. NT