Review – The Beasts of Knobbly Bottom: Attack of the Vampire Sheep

I was sent a free e-book of this for work purposes, but then bought the physical copy and its sequel. I was under no obligation to review and all views and opinions are our own.

The Beasts of Knobbly Bottom: Rise of the Zombie Pigs by Emily-Jane Clark, illustrated by Jeff Crowther, published by Scholastic

The first thing you should know about Knobbly Bottom is that “it is a village, not a bum.”

And despite it being a seemingly boring, sleepy village in the countryside, it’s particularly susceptible to being threatened by terrible creatures…

I first read ‘Attack of the Vampire Sheep’ as an ebook for work, but as soon as I finished it I bought the physical book and started it again with Peapod as I knew he’d love it too (which he did!)

This first book in the series sees 9 year old Maggie Mackay uprooted from her home in Leicester for a ‘better’ life in the country. Poor Maggie is not happy about this (and as a fellow city-lover who likes the country only on the condition that it involves a pub, good food and being able to go home again after it, I really felt for her).

So when she tries to warn her mum about the sheep in the neighbouring fields growing fangs with eyes turning red, her mum of course thinks it’s another of her tall tales designed to inspire a move back to Leicester.

Unfortunately for Knobbly Bottom, it’s not. But luckily, Maggie, alongside new neighbour and friend Fred, and determined-to-be-part-of-the-action little sister Lily have it all in hand…

…sort of.

Cue a madcap, disaster-prone, utterly hilarious race to save the village from the evil Baa-face and his flock of followers armed with frozen burgers, mum’s phone and a selection of kitchen utensils.

Luckily, whenever the gang’s plans seem destined to end with them at the mercy of the vampire sheep, local old-lady-odd-bod Nan Helsing has a knack of popping up, lollipop in hand, to safe the day.

I mean, this had me at Nan Helsing.

It’s genius. Absolute laugh-out-loud silliness paired with brilliantly ridiculous illustrations from Jeff Crowther who has absolutely nailed the Knobbly Bottom vibe. With gags aplenty that had me chuckling throughout, shrewd observational humour about parenting from a child’s perspective and just the right mix of peril, toilet humour and slapstick this is a thoroughly enjoyable read for readers young and old! We love it!

Peapod says: “I liked the fangs and I liked Baa-Face. Nan Helsing is my favourite character.”