The Legend of Ghastly Jack Crowheart

LoveReading4Kids Says

Young Lil works at the Squawking Mackerel Inn, not the most salubrious of places and its turnip-heavy menu seems hard likely to attract foodies.

It’s always busy though: by blocking the village ditch (with stale turnip pies), Lil’s managed to cause a nice oozy puddle, just the thing to stop carriages in their tracks. Stranded passengers struggle into the inn for refreshments while the local farmer pulls their transport free.

So far so gooey good, but the bogged carriages also prove a magnet for highwaymen and soon the place is crawling with them. Passengers robbed of all their wealth do not make good paying customers and landlady Ma Scroggins is contemplating selling the pub and moving into turnip farming.

Lil can’t have that (no tips on a turnip farm, no chance of escape to a new life). She’ll have to scare off the highwayman hordes somehow – perhaps an invented ghost story will do it? Fortunately, her friends, fellow servant Ned and smart young crow, Scratchy are there to help.

The story is immense fun, Loretta Schauer’s spritely black and white illustrations adding to the excitement, and this will become a real favourite with readers (it already is with this one).

Andrea Reece

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