Synopsis: Ottoline Brown is no ordinary girl. Her parents travel the world while she is looked after by a small, hirsute Norwegian bog man named Mr Munroe and a parade of domestic helpers. She likes mysteries and puzzles and clever plans. She wears odd shoes. She has a bear living in her laundry room. She has a diploma in disguise from the Academy of Subterfuge. And she is more than a match for the mysterious and daring burglar stalking 3rd Street’s lapdog owning community.

Review: Probably best known as an illustrator and as the co-creator of the Edge Chronicles, Chris Riddell provides in Ottoline and the Yellow Cat a reminder that he is also an author in his own right. The book is a visual feast, peppered with dry annotations and gorgeously detailed, half-coloured drawings, and its plot is a small but exquisite tale of pets gone bad and the absurd lengths that Ottoline and her friends go to thwart them.

Ottoline and the Yellow Cat is a hardbound treasure. As is so often the case with small hardbacks, it could seem to be a slight thing for the asking price. Certainly the story itself provides only about an hour’s reading, but the details of the illustrations offer scope for days of rereading and poring over and the book is absolutely beautiful.

The book would be perfect for an advanced, yet highly visual reader, with the pictures providing a route into the slender, sophisticated text.

Nestle Gold Award 2007 - Books for 6 - 8 years

Red House Younger Readers Category winner 2008

2007-02-03