Ten-year-old Beatrix is the Queen of Morden, although she doesn’t know she is the Queen. She lives in a higgledy-piggledy palace twice the size of Buckingham Palace with her Aunt, Esmerelda the Terrible and her Uncle, Ivan the Vicious who was paid a lot of gold by her parents to keep her safe.

Beatrix has never stepped foot outside the castle, though she does have plenty of rooms to choose from to spend her time, ten rooms, in fact, her Aunt gives her a new room for her birthdays. She has the Garden Room which has no roof and is filled with flowers, a waterfall, and a cave so it feels like she is outside. There is the War Room where she practices learning how to throw her knives and defeat armies. There is even a story room.

Beatrix is desperate to go outside but her Aunt warns her about the Wobblers that live outside and takes little girls, she also states that at the end of the dark, dark wood the world ends and it is just a sheer drop. One day Beatrix overhears her teacher and her Uncle having a conversation about an evil army coming to the castle to kill the Queen. Beatrix is intrigued she wants to know why and who is this Queen, she has never seen a Queen in the castle before.

Beatrix needs to be brave and bold if she is to find the answers.

Beatrix the Bold and the Curse of the Wobblers is an exciting and humorous children’s book that features one very brave young girl who doesn’t realise she is the Queen of the land. The book has plenty of laugh-out-loud moments and numerous place names and characters with names that will make kids (and adults) chuckle.

She doesn’t know what happened to her parents as no-one will tell her, she does know that there is a big secret and she is going to find out what it is and learn about her family and why she lives with her Aunt and Uncle. Along her journey, she meets Dog, the Dog, and Oi a young boy who helps her discover the truth.

This is a book that will have children glued to the pages, especially with all the references to modern-day items, comparing them to those from old times, and the bad jokes too! It is full of life and the writing and the black and white illustrations throughout makes the story come alive.

This is the first book is a planned series and with book two just released this month, I look forward to reading it and carrying on Beatrix’s adventure in Beatrix the Bold and the Riddletown Dragon.

About the Author

Simon Mockler studied painting at Camberwell Art College then read Modern Languages at Cambridge University. He works for the Committee of Advertising Practice, helping advertisers and agencies with their ad copy and lives in south London with his wife and two children.

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