Grimehog

I sat outside my palace looking around me, still feeling very ill at ease and cross. Why? Was it all the colours getting to me? Colours had only come since I captured the children. How I hated them. I needed to get to the bottom of it all; now. Things had only started to go wrong since they arrived in the woods. I stomped into my palace but was immediately confronted with more colours. First there had been the birds, now it was pigs and parrots. I quickly got rid of them but they were immediately followed by dragons breathing fire. I was horrified. This needed more magic than I had. I collected all the gnomes and together our magic made them all disappear. However, the effort drained me and the gnomes of all of our magic. I sat there feeling really cross and vulnerable. Suddenly a dark shadow blocked out the light from my palace door. I felt something pick me up and then I was flying through the air. I had no magic left to free myself Where was I being taken and what was going to happen to me?

I was concentrating on becoming better and better at my magic. I re-read the books I had stolen from the goblins. I tried things out on the gnomes and animals. Practicing on the gnomes was easy but for some reason the animals kept away from me. In one book I read that long finger nails gave one more magic, so I wished for my nails to grow longer and longer. It seemed to work, as I tried turning the rooks into hawks and they immediately became huge horridly deformed birds, lovely for me to look at , but they could hardly move. They were no use to me like that, so I had to turn them back again. I tried it on the gnomes, but although I could make them larger and uglier, they became a menace to me, so I turned them back to their normal size. I wondered if I could make the children smaller, but then they wouldn’t be able to do all the things I needed them for, such as finish my palace. I stamped my feet feeling very cross and frustrated.

Oh what was happening to me? Things just weren’t going right. I had made the children do things for me and my palace was almost finished. They worked quickly and well, but I just had this feeling that I was not in command of them at all. Various things were happening and I was sure it was the children’s fault, but how were they able to do these things when they didn’t have any magic? I had looked through their pockets and knapsacks and found nothing. They weren’t afraid of me. Why not? I wanted them to cower in front of me like the gnomes did. However they just looked at me when things happened as if I didn’t matter at all. How that infuriated me. I knew I shouldn’t lose my temper as that made me use more magic, but colours made me re-act so angrily. Since I had captured the children there had been so many colours. It was making me crosser and crosser which made my magic harder to control. How could I stop it all? I could change the children into small animals but for that I needed stronger magic. Now where do I find that?

Imagine my surprise when the dogs led me through the rumbling trees to a bush. It had caught something. There was a boy and a rat imprisoned there. I grinned when I saw the thorns sticking into their skin. Standing nearby were two other children and a bunch of gnomes, but what were they all wearing? Coloured clothes. Horrid; I couldn’t stand that. I flung my hands at them and immediately the colours disappeared. That was better, now I could concentrate on what was in front of me. It gradually dawned on me that here were the three children who had been seen earlier by Squawky and Quirky. I rubbed my hands in glee. Great, I now had them in my grasp. The things they would do or me. They would obey my every command. Reluctantly I released the boy and rat from the bush. I did enjoy seeing them so uncomfortable. The rat ran off quickly. I made the gnomes shepherd the children back to my palace and I locked them in a cell. The dogs were told to stay and guard them. The gnomes who said they had caught the children were also told to stay and guard them. I left them, but I was worried. Something didn’t feel right. I had an ominous feeling.

I had the surprise of my life one day when Squawky and Quirky came to me and told me there were strangers in my glade. I soon realised they were humans, but what were they doing there? I must get rid of them and quickly. Then I grinned and rubbed my hands. Perhaps I would capture them. My magic was surely strong enough to do that. Imagine my glee when all the trees and bushes started to tremble and make noises like thunder. Had I caught the humans? I had put a spell on all the trees and bushes some time ago so that when something touched them they would extend their prickly branches and capture whatever it was. They would hold them till I arrived. Several animals had been trapped, but I had always let them go, as they were all stupid like my dogs and birds. With the trees still rumbling I raced towards the sound.

I was having a great time in Oaktreeland and was ruling nearly all of it. The gnomes who had managed to escape my spells had found new domes further away, but soon I would have them all. My palace was almost built and I had prison cells for anyone who disobeyed me. I’d encouraged lots of spiders and other dark insects to come and join me. The spiders wove massive black webs for me. I enjoyed annoying the gnomes I’d captured and liked to see them getting hurt. I used to get the dogs to chase them all round the large glade. I told the birds to peck the gnomes who tried to avoid going into the glade. I so enjoyed watching to see how high the dogs tossed the gnomes into the air. When I’d had enough I would call the dogs and rooks and leave the gnomes that were hurt to look after themselves. I don’t know what happened to them and I didn’t care. Little did I know that my misdeeds would come back to haunt me one day.

A short time later I had a band of seventy gnomes that I had captured. I needed more, and to get them I would have to go underground to the domes. I made my way to the nearest dome changing everything to black and brown as I went. That looked so much better. I crept down the first dome with my band of ugly gnomes and managed to surprise most of them down there. I flung my hands at them and wished for them to obey me. A few who had spotted me managed to get away. I changed all the colours in the dome black and then went on to the next few domes and did the same things there. Now I had plenty of gnomes who would obey me I needed somewhere to live. I left the domes and went up into the woods. The gnomes could build me a palace. Work started and I told the dogs and rooks to keep an eye on everything so that I could practice my magic and make it stronger. One never knew what might happen and no-one was going to be better than me.

No 6
The next thing to do was to capture some gnomes. If I could do that I could gradually take over Gnomeland. I made my way to Oaktreeland where there were more trees and so more cover. I hated the green trees and bushes and the colourful flowers but put up with that, while I decided how to capture some gnomes. I made a small secluded place to shelter in, by pulling down some branches, and then I waited. The rooks and dogs were told to keep still and quiet. Soon our waiting was rewarded. Three gnomes strolled nearby. Immediately I ordered the dogs and rooks to surround them and bring them to me. As soon as they were near I flung my hands at them and wished that they obey me. Next I changed their dreadful coloured clothes black and made them look dirty and cross. That was better. They were told to sit down and not move. The next thing was to change the colour of the tress, bushes and flowers round me. I raised my hands and everything turned black and brown. That was better, much more like home. Now to capture more gnomes. I looked round ready to pounce.

As I was returning to Gnomeland, with the rooks flying awkwardly just over my head ,I saw two large dogs wandering around. They spotted me and the rooks and decided that we were play things. They pounced and pushed me to the ground. They sniffed at me. That angered me. I raised my hands and wished for them to obey me. There was a tremendous tingling in my hands and I shouted at them to lie down. They immediately obeyed. While I waited for my fingers to return to normal I had a good look at the dogs. One was golden. I didn’t like that. I hated colours. I liked everything to be black. I raised my hands again and wished for both dogs to be black, with a crooked back and crooked legs, a distorted head and fangs for teeth. In a flash two deformed black dogs lay before me. I rubbed my hands in glee. Now I had a small group who would obey my every wish. I wanted to take over Gnomeland and be in charge of everything. I wanted more. I rubbed my hands in anticipation.

This review is from: Little Ed & The Rise Of Grimehog (Paperback)
This was the first time I had got a book from this author so wasn’t sure what to expect, but was very happily surprised. Little Ed is an enchanting tale of three friends who enter a secret and magical world of gnomes and goblins and have to battle against Grimehog and his cohorts to help their new friends. I wont tell you more as I dont want to spoil it for you! This is not one of the current run of gruesome or horrible childrens stories, where you worry about what you are giving children to read, but one of innocent wonderment and discovery, and takes us to a time and place where good battles evil in a way that is uplifting and heartening. It is a great read for youngsters, I bought it for an 8 year old, but as an adult, also enjoyed reading it myself. The book is not too long for younger children, but detailed and imaginative enough for older ones. I can thoroughly recommend the book and understand there are more to follow. Great!!