Customer Reviews

Smugglers' Mine

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Eleven-year-old Stanley Buggles just received a mysterious package. Inside was a large, old key and a letter from the Mayoress of Crampton Rock. It seems that Stanley had a long lost great-uncle who just died and left him a house. Now Stanley is off to visit Candlestick Hall for the summer under the watchful eye of Mrs. Carelli, the housekeeper of Candlestick Hall.

As he arrives on Crampton Rock, Stanley realizes right away that he's in a strange place. For one thing you can't even set foot on the harbor without showing proof he belongs there. For another the whole town shuts down at dusk and no one ventures outside after dark.

As Stanley continues his daily adventures he inadvertently gets caught up with a trio of pirates who are up to no good. Now they have Stanley convinced that there is a real live werewolf loose on Crampton Rock and Stanley is the only one who can save the village from the beast.

The Wooden Mile is a great children's book. It has all the elements of a story unique enough to hold a child's interest in reading and have them eager to learn what Stanley is up to next. I really enjoyed this read and I know it will appeal to children who are the recommended reading age of 9-12 and their parents will approve. I can't wait to read Something Wickedly Weird, vol. 2: The Icy Hand.

Since the blazing success of Harry Potter, there has been a slew of fantastic adventure series for children in roughly the same genre. What you're looking at here is yet another.

I don't mean by that that they're all bad, but I would give this particular series a pass. As of my writing, there are six volumes in the series, all very handsomely published. In order:

1. The Wooden Mile
2. The Icy Hand
3. The Silver Casket
4. The Darkling Curse
5. The Smugglers' Mine
6. The Treasure Keepers

The tale of "The Wooden Mile," the first installment, concerns the adventures of the young Stanley Buggles as he sets out to discover why a mysterious island is plagued with werewoves and pirates.

Mould's stories have a fun look and feel, and Mould is quite able with dialogue. There are in addition many endearing sketches of the people and places around Crampton Rock (whereupon the action of the tale is set).

Regrettably, the main character comes off as devoid of any real personality, and events in the book happen so quickly and follow each other so relentlessly that it's difficult for the reader to be emotionally present.

I am a huge fan of Chris Mould's artwork, and I have collected every installment in the series so far, merely because of his drawings, which have a compelling and unique style.

His abilities as a storywriter, however, are lacking. I find the stories uninteresting and often silly. I wish he would get somebody else to write the stories for him. However, I am not a kid, so maybe kids wouldn't mind. For my part, though, what actually happens to Stanley Buggles is nowhere near as imaginative as Mould's artwork is.

Whenever I find out that a new "Something Wickedly Weird" book has come out, however, I order it from Amazon's UK site, since I think those editions are much more handsome than the ones printed in the U.S. You can also buy the British version as an import through Amazon's U.S. website here: Something Wickedly Weird 01. The Wooden Mile. But the stories themselves are so lame I don't even read them anymore: I just buy them for the pictures.

I would say this series is most appropriate for boys, ages 8-10.

The Wooden Mile: Something Wickedly Weird is a delightful book written by Chris Mould for 9 to 12 year olds, but I'm a few years past that and I loved it. It is published by Roaring Brook Press.

It is the story of eleven year old Stanley Buggles, an ordinary boy who received a letter informing him that his Great-Uncle Bartholomew (who he's never met) has died and left his estate and and all of his possessions to Stanley. It is decided that Stanley should visit the estate, Candlestick Hall in Crampton Rock. When he arrives, he discovers a strange town where the people stay locked in at night. Stanley solves the mystery only to encounter another one.

This book has a fun story line that children will enjoy plus fantastic illustrations. This is the first in the Something Wickedly Weird series.