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GrimwoodNadia Shireen
Grimwood
by Nadia Shireen
Two city foxes flee to the countryside and find Grimwood, where the animals are extremely odd and the talent show is taken very seriously.
A story about animals, funny and silly in tone. We would put it with children of 7–10, and at a reading age of about 8 for reading alone.
Nothing flagged
We have not flagged any content in this one that a parent would usually want warning about.
Part of a series
This is book 1 of the Grimwood series, so there is more to read if it goes down well — which is worth a great deal with a reluctant reader.
Our take on this book
Ted and Nancy, two fox cubs on the run from the city, wash up in Grimwood — a chaotic patch of countryside full of unhinged animals — where their first day includes a beauty pageant, a talent contest and a vengeful eagle, all narrated at breakneck comic speed. Nadia Shireen, better known as an illustrator, turns out to be a wickedly funny writer, and the book is packed with her own gleeful cartoons, absurd characters and jokes flying past faster than a child can catch them all. It is short-chaptered, wildly energetic and perfectly pitched for a newly independent reader who wants maximum silliness. There is nothing frightening here; the peril is entirely ridiculous. For a six- to nine-year-old with a taste for the anarchic and the very funny, Grimwood is a riot — the kind of book that has children snorting out loud and demanding the sequel, and a brilliant pick for turning a reluctant reader into a giggling one.
If they like this, try these
Chosen by matching age, reading age, tone and subject — not by what is selling.
Fantastic Mr FoxRoald Dahl
Just So StoriesRudyard Kipling
The TwitsRoald Dahl
You're a Bad Man, Mr Gum!Andy Stanton
Mrs Armitage on WheelsQuentin Blake
Or let them write their own.
Nothing gets a child reading like a story they invented themselves. Your child plans the characters and the plot, and we write, illustrate and print it as a real book with their name on the cover as the author.
Find another book
Tell us the age, the reading age and what they like, and we will suggest a handful.