Poor Horrendo certainly is cursed!  As if being kidnapped by pirates were not enough, he suffers one of the worst fates possible for a 12 year old boy.  He is polite and considerate!

Anna Fienberg’s rollicking adventure has all the humour and whimsy of her Tashi series for younger readers, but as a longer novel for, well, 12 year old boys (and girls)!

Each year, the 12 year olds of Horrendo’s village are carried off to slave on a pirate ship.  The parents try to toughen their boys by teaching them to curse and bully and swagger so they might survive. But poor Horrendo was cursed by Gretel the Witch (“She’s not a witch, mother, she’s a wise woman”!) and must always be beautifully mannered.  How can he survive?

Fortunately he can cook, but while the crew love their steady diet of French toast and lobster mornay, it is not the sinister captain’s idea of a pirate’s life.  Nor are politeness and good manners and so Horrendo must walk the plank.  Throw in mutinies, volcanoes, poison frogs and buried treasure and Horrendo’s plans to get home with all the village’s boys struggle from Gretel’s curse.

This is a very funny story, cleverly told because it is never overdone.  Like the Tashi stories, the word play is gentle and subtle.  The situations are all logical but build together into a hilarious tale as Horrendo “Pleases” and “Thank yous” his way through chaos and mayhem. Kim Gamble’s drawings support the text perfectly, simple, clear and never overwhelming.

This is another delightful story from one of Australia’s top children’s authors and, I hope, the forerunner to many more.

Other books by this author:
Tashi and the haunted house (Allen & Unwin, 2002)
Tashi and the Royal Tomb (Allen & Unwin, 2003)

Review by David Beagley

© 2002 David Beagley