SIR SETH THISTLETHWAITE
And the Soothsayer's Shoes
From the Sir Seth Thistlethwaite series
by Richard Thake illustrated by Vince Chui
Two boys imagine an adventure in the kingdoms of Thatchwych and High Dudgeon. Sir Seth and his buddy Sir Ollie go a-questing in their tinfoil armor to find the missing Soothsaying Shoes of Sir Shawn Shrood. They wend their way to the dark, lonely castle of Prince Quincy of Poxley with the help of saber-toothed sloth Edith-Anne and the ghost of Jolly King Wally. Can they brave the weezils and weevils and elephant ants with measles and worse? With the help of new friends, it’s easy-peasy! Published in an avowed attempt to revive the read-aloud for middle graders, Canadian ad-man Thake’s first work of fiction will, more likely, sour their stomachs. The forced rhymes and treacly descriptions would set teeth on edge in a picture book. The bad grammar and cutesy made-up words are anything but instructive, easily addressed “dangers” kill any sense of adventure and the characters never develop beyond caricatures. Serviceable black-and-white, cartoon illustrations can’t save this. Cressida Cowell’s How to Train Your Dragon books, Kate McMullan’s Dragon Slayers' Academy and the storied Magic Tree House all render this painfully patronizing series unnecessary. (Fantasy. 7-10)