View source for Buckle and Squash and the Monstrous Moat-Dragon by Sarah Courtauld

{{infobox1
|title=Buckle and Squash and the Monstrous Moat-Dragon
|author=Sarah Courtauld
|reviewer=Ruth Ng
|genre=Confident Readers
|rating=4.5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=9781447255550
|pages=208
|publisher=Macmillan Children's Books
|date=July 2014
|video=g_f7nZL1Ws8
|summary=Very silly, very funny, and what I'm hoping will be the start of a great new series!
|cover=1447255550
|aznuk=1447255550
|aznus=1447255550
}}
In this story we have two sisters.  There is Eliza, who dreams of being a swashbuckling hero, whilst her sister Lavender spends her time mooning over pictures of princes, hoping to become a real princess.  One day Lavender gets kidnapped out in the forest by a rather dreadful villain, Mordmont.  Will poor Lavender ever escape?  Will Eliza get to be the hero?  And what about these monstrous moat dragons?!

There is a great deal of silliness in this story, lots of puns and silly jokes that will make a lot of readers groan aloud.  My dad would love it!  I hesitate to call it quirky, because I don't think that quite captures the charm the story brings, but it is quirky and unusual and silly and fun.  For example, in Chapter Three we are introduced to Mordmont, only we're not because there is an authorial announcement that apologises for the delay in introducing Mordmont but explains that he isn't actually doing anything villainous right at that moment and is just eating a piece of cake!

There are fun little drawings through the story.  They're not on every page, but often enough that they help vary your reading and add a little something extra to the story.  I like the one depicting Mordmont, the villain, and then how Lavender is imagining him as she decides that he's so ugly he must surely be an enchanted Prince who has been turned into a beast!  Lavender, by the way, made me laugh throughout.  She's full of dreadful songs that she sings ''all the time''!  She sings songs about meeting princes, and songs about pretty much everything that happens to her all day long.  Her lack of musicality is funny but it actually turns out later to be a rather useful skill.  You'll have to read the book if you want to find out why!

The story is divided into chapters and although they're not very long there are quite a few of them, so this is probably best for emerging readers who feel fairly confident in their reading.  Although the girls are the focus of the story it doesn't feel like a particularly girly book and I think it could easily be enjoyed by boys as well as girls.  The humour works whatever your gender, and whatever your age really.  I found myself snorting quite often as I read it to myself at bedtime!

I'm hoping that this will become a series of stories about Eliza and Lavender as I really liked the style of the writing and found it to be a fun, engaging read.

For more silliness try [[Pongwiffy Back on Track by Kaye Umansky]]

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[[Category:Emerging Readers]]