Grrrr.............

A friend asked me recently for ideas on books to read aloud to her eight year old boy. She wanted something exciting that would capture her son's imagination, something they would both enjoy. I immediately thought of Zizou Corder's Lionboy.
As it begins, Charlie Ashanti leads a normal life in current day London or so it seems until his mother writes him a letter in her own blood and then disappears along with his father. Charlie being a bright lad is then suspicious when a local tough Rafi turns up claiming that all is well and that Charlie should go with him. The first reason is that his mother's laboratory door has been left wide open, not locked as it normally is. The second reason is that the cats have told him that his parents have been abducted. Charlie can speak cat and his parents who are scientists are held in very high esteem by the world's cat population.
Lionboy is actually set in an unspecified time in the future. Some things remain the same but others have changed forever. Fuel has almost run out so cars are rarely used with boats the most common mode of transport. Cats are public enemy number one because they have (allegedly) caused the asthma epidemic that is affecting children all over the empire. Charlie's parents have been working on an asthma cure before they are kidnapped.
Charlie escapes and sets off to find his parents. He stows away on a police launch which becomes entangled with an enormous and musical scarlet ship called the Circe. Charlie is taken aboard and finds that he is on a circus ship that is heading to Paris, which is where his parents are being taken. Not just any circus though as his new employer Major Thibaudet points out, it is, " Thibaudet's Royal Floating Circus and Equestrian Philharmonic Academy" or Tib's Gallimaufry. Amongst the bearded lady and funambulists and trick monkeys it's not long before he finds the circus lions and meets their Lion Trainer, the chilling Maccomo and his plan to find his parents now has another part, to help the lions escape.
Lionboy is a cracker read as Charlie, with the help of the cats, races to find his parents before Rafi finds him and to free the lions. It has quirky illustrations with minute details and also some music that was specifically written for the book. The only problem is that as the tempo picks up as Charlie attempts to escape into Paris with six very large lions, you become aware that the number of pages left couldn't possibly be enough to finish the story satisfactorily. Which is why it comes as a relief to learn that the book is part of a trilogy. It's a good idea to have the next book ready to go as soon as you finish the first.

Lionboy
by Zizou Corder
Isbn 9780141317267
Published by Penguin

Lionboy:the Chase
Isbn 9780141317564
Published by Penguin

Lionboy: The Truth
Isbn 9780141317571
Published by Penguin