View source for Oliver and the Seawigs by Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre

{{infobox1
|title=Oliver and the Seawigs
|author=Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre
|reviewer=John Lloyd
|genre=Confident Readers
|rating=4.5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=9780192734556
|pages=208
|publisher=OUP Oxford
|date=September 2013
|summary=A very amusing and fun adventure for the under-twelves, and anyone else who might enjoy the whimsy of its invention.
|cover=0192734555
|aznuk=0192734555
|aznus=0192734555
}}
Children the age of Oliver are supposed to be adventurous, but he just wants to stay at home.  He's been dragged across the globe by his explorer parents, but he only wants to settle.  Moving into a new home at last, when they retire, he soon finds them vanished, along with lots of small islands that had peppered the bay their house overlooked.  Oliver, then, has to turn pioneer, and try and find out what has happened to the rest of his family.

In the process he gets a new family of friends, and it's here I'll stop describing anything with much detail.  The pleasures of this book include a very matter-of-fact whimsicality, and it's better if you know as little as possible about Mr Culpeper, Cliff and Iris.  Their introduction on the page, and in the spikey, black and blue illustrations, is great.  It brings to mind for me at least [[The Alchemaster's Apprentice by Walter Moers|Walter Moers]] and his ability to invent weird worlds and creatures with such a blasé attitude.  The actual seawigs, when they start to feature, are both absurd and very drily acceptable in such a fantasy adventure as this.

And that's before the army of green monkeys, and the Thurlstone…  There's a depth to this book despite its brevity, due to the economical style and quick-paced drama.  Not for [[:Category:Philip Reeve|Philip Reeve]] are there words out of place, or unnecessary description.  Instead there is a snap to the comedy, a quirk to the characters and much pleasurable fun to be had with it all.  There's an invention here that carries across the age range it's targeted at, and so this little book becomes almost universally entertaining.

I must thank the publishers for my review copy.  We also have a review of [[The Legend of Kevin: A Roly-Poly Flying Pony Adventure (Legend of Kevin 1) by Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre]].

[[The Monkey Pirates by Mark Skelton and Ben Redlich]] has a similar way with odd animal larks, and is still brilliant fun.  More recently our funny-bone has been tickled by [[The Grunts All At Sea by Philip Ardagh and Axel Scheffler]].

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[[Category:Philip Reeve]]
[[Category:Sarah McIntyre]]