A funny, pacy adventure that blends a fairly kitchen sink set of family dynamics with some utterly zany fantasy. The whole thing is a pleasure to read and I think probably a pleasure to share reading aloud. There is a big whiff of Roald Dahl anarchy about it, especially in the way the adults are awfully bad or bumblingly hopeless. The children save the day just as children should. A crackling little story. The Bookbag.co.uk 20090812 An explosive adventure. Bookseller, Children's Buyer's Guide 20090101 A hilarious adventure by Mark Haddon, who has an innate and dazzling rapport with his target audience. The Bookseller 20090619

Mark Haddon is an author, illustrator and screenwriter who has written fifteen books for children and won two BAFTAs. His bestselling novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time was published simultaneously by Jonathan Cape and David Fickling in 2003. It won seventeen literary prizes, including the Whitbread Award. Mark Haddon lives in Oxford.