Stitch Head by Guy Bass

This book appeared in our school library about three weeks before the end of term. I hadn't heard of it but was absolutely fascinated by the lovely front cover, so I quickly added it to my ever-expanding summer holidays reading pile. And I'm really glad I did, because I absolutely loved it.

Stitch Head is the very first creation of the Mad Professor Erasmus, who lives in the spooky Castle Grotteskew. The Professor is very similar to Doctor Frankenstein, and is absolutely obsessed with trying to breathe life into strange creatures (dog-faced cats, headless horses, frog-children, etc). Stitch Head is very soon forgotten by his creator and left to wander the castle all by himself. However, even though the Professor no longer cares about him, Stitch Head is incredibly loyal and always tries to help the Professor in any way he can. Stitch Head has just made friends with the Professor's newest creation, a creature known simply as the Creature, when there is a knock at the door. It is the the owner of a mysterious circus, Fulbert Freakfinder, and he desperately wants the Professor to leave the castle and go and work for him...immediately. But why are a group of angry villagers marching on the castle with pitchforks and flaming torches? How will Stitch Head cope without the Professor? And how will the Professor cope without Stitch Head?

This book was an absolute joy. Although it's 180 pages, it's a really easy read and I managed it in one sitting. There are some very funny moments but also some quite sad parts, as Stitch Head is a really lonely character with absolutely no self-confidence. The illustrations by Pete Williamson on each page are fantastic and really add to the story. After doing a quick search on the internet, I was delighted to find out that there at least three other Stitch Heads books available, so hopefully they will be appearing in our school library very soon (won't they Mrs Smith?).

Your're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but in this case I'm glad I did.

Highly recommended for Year Four and above.

Mr Biddle