Horace and the Haggis Hunter
Sally Magnusson's character Horace the Haggis, complete with bagpipes and hair gel, is homeless and hunted when he arrives in Acre Valley only to find himself prey to Angus McPhee, chief of the haggis-hunters and his spiteful cat. And so the adventure begins when Horace is captured and then helped by a veggie fox, a loyal mouse and the Mole Patrol not to mention two magpies on Twitter.
Horace and the Haggis Hunter nods to Kenneth Grahame's wonderful classic, Wind in the Willows but lacks its depth and timelessness. It is a predicatable story relatively well told. I'm sure Stacey adn Tracey, the magpies on Twitter, are more to entertain the adults reading the story and the tweets read more like text messages – neither particularly suited to a much younger audience.
PWT rating:♥♥♥♥♥
Published by Black & White Publishing, Horace the Haggis: Horace and the Haggis Hunter
Horace and the Ghost Dog
I enjoyed the second book in the series about Horace the Haggis more. Author Sally Magnusson 's writing seems more confident and assured. The adventure storyline was better and the narrative flowed better. I'm still not sure about including Twitter and posting photos from a party on Facebook (something we ought to be adviising young people not to do in the current climate) but the characters have more depth and the storyline is engaging.
Plus it is good to have two Scottish books which add an interesting dimension to children's literature. Both books are wonderfully illustrated by Norman Stone.
PWT rating:♥♥♥♥♥
Horace the Haggis and the Ghost Dog