Here Be Monsters is the inspiration behind the new Boxtrolls movie. An enormously inventive, endlessly entertaining, overwhelmingly original and astonishingly illustrated book set in the unbelievably weird world of Ratbridge. Eccentric and zany, fast-moving and funny with a Dickensian feel about it. Fans of A Series of Unfortunate Events will love it.
Meet the Boxtrolls! The book that inspired the film! There's an emergency in Ratbridge! Only orphan Arthur and his new friends Willbury Nibble QC, Marjorie the inventor, a timid cabbagehead, and some very excitable boxtrolls can save the day! But are they really up to the job? Why has the evil Snatcher taken up residence in Cheese Hall? Who has stolen Marjorie's latest invention? And who knew that rats were so good at removing stains? Find out in this amazing, fun,and highly-illustrated romp!
Here Be Monsters kicks the imagination into overdrive with belting characters, adorable illustrations and other fantastic inventions that will keep a child's appetite for fun fully satisfied. With superb illustrations and a lavishly imaginative plot, Here Be Monsters suggests that Roald Dahl might well have a 21st century successor - and that JK Rowling could have some competition on her hands The Big Issue
Snow's drawings suggest a Dickensian town, and his caricatures with their gormless faces and his lovingly rendered machinery make this book (now a website and film) as much fun to look at as it is to read. Sunday Times
The story engages the reader quickly. It is a zany and funny story as quirky as the author's picture books ... the visual imagery is fantastic in both senses of the word. The sheer vibrant fun of the story shines throughout. School Librarian
Author
About Alan Snow
Alan Snow is an award-winning children’s book illustrator and designer who has worked on more than 160 books. His novel, Here Be Monsters (OUP, 2005), was made into an animated film, The Boxtrolls, which spent several weeks at the top of the UK box office in 2015. Fascinated with ‘how things work’, Alan turned his attentions towards the kitchen, acquiring sophisticated equipment such as vacuum machine, centrifuge, freeze dryer and shock chiller, and has developed his own culinary ‘lab’. He has since consulted for The Ethicurian restaurant. Alan now runs workshops and courses for professional chefs and cooks. His gastronomic experiments are due to be filmed for a documentary. Alan has won numerous awards for his work as a children’s book illustrator as well as for design and computer animation.
