Chicken Hill: Attack of the zombie cactus by Beccy Blake

Fans of graphic novels are sure to love Chicken Hill, which contains three stories: Alien invasion, Attack of the zombie cactus and King Frog. At the beginning of the book the reader finds a map that is an introduction  to Chicken Hill, a small town where pets can talk. Characters in the stories including Ferdy a nerd, Gripper the dog, a fartypants fashionistapug, Tink, a sleepy cat, and Uncle Russ are also introduced, each with a colourful description and drawing.

Drawn in by the fabulous text and pictures the reader is plunged into a hilarious episode where Gripper and Uncle Russ are abducted by aliens who are on the prowl for baked beans. You can imagine the laughter this causes, especially as Gripper is a fartypants. Then the heroes must fight off a zombie cactus attack with clones taking over the world and finally they meet King Frog.

I loved the full colour illustrations, with the expressions of the characters so well drawn that I laughed aloud at many of the escapades. Older readers will love reading this, while younger children will enjoy reading along with a parent, one story at a time. It is sure to be a graphic novel that is revisited for its humour and clever dialogue.

Fans of the Dog Man series by Dav Pilkey are sure to enjoy it too.

Themes: Graphic novel, Adventure, Humour.

Pat Pledger