ReadItDaddy's Chapter Book of the Week - Week Ending 16th February 2018 - "King Coo" by Adam Stower (David Fickling Books)

Adam Stower is really no stranger to our Book of the Week slot...having staked his claim here with his fantastic picture books on a regular basis...
Now this extremely talented chap is about to do the same for chapter books for early readers, with his debut chapter novel "King Coo".

But what's it all about? And why is it so good?

For starters it immediately felt like 'our kind of book' - instantly feeling like a classic that had been around for decades (thanks in no small part to such a winning 'Stig of the Dump' style atmosphere to this story of young Ben, and an adventure beyond his comprehension.

Ben is being bullied, and is on the run from his nemesis Monty when he suddenly falls through a mysterious hole in the ground

Here he discovers a hidden forest ruled by King Coo.

Nothing unusual there, but King Coo happens to be a girl - a girl with a handsome beard, a giant tree house and a wombat named Herbert!

Ben and Coo become firm friends but there may be trouble ahead as Monty and his gang want to destroy King Coo's paradise. But Ben and Coo are well prepared with skunk bangers and Coo's most ingenious invention: the Wombatisator!

It's absolutely delicious this, with illustrations woven throughout the text in Adam's fab style. The story is what grabbed us the most though, again it's hard not to mention "Stig of the Dump" as a divine source of inspiration for this, but it's still such a rollickingly good story it stands on its own two (hairy) feet quite nicely.

Glorious!

"King Coo" by Adam Stower is out on 1st March 2018, published by David Fickling Books (kindly supplied for review).