★ 04/27/2015
Mabbitt’s bustling debut combines a humorously intrusive narrator with lively illustrations by Collins (Dear Vampa). After Mabel Jones picks her nose and eats the “bogey” she extracts from it, she promptly finds herself an indentured pirate aboard an otherworldly ship filled with wolves, pigs, crocodiles, and a vindictive loris named Omynus Hussh. In the servitude of Idyrss Ebeneezer Split, the captain of the Feroshus Maggot, Mabel learns that the only way to get home is to help the captain collect the pieces of a key scattered among treacherous thieves and pirates before a comet disappears, sealing the porthole between realms for another hundred years. With time running out and suspicious Jarvis the Psychopomp to contend with, Mabel battles ghosts, counts, and a whale to return to the “hooman” world. Playful font variations and word placement amplify the already funny narrative, as do Collins’s numerous illustrations (not all seen by PW), which emphasize Mabel’s daredevil leanings and the budding relationship between Mabel and Omynus. First in a series, this comical novel should become a readaloud favorite. Ages 8–12. (June)
The Unlikely Adventures of Mabel Jones
Narrated by Toby Jones
Will MabbittUnabridged — 3 hours, 46 minutes
The Unlikely Adventures of Mabel Jones
Narrated by Toby Jones
Will MabbittUnabridged — 3 hours, 46 minutes
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Overview
Have you ever picked your nose? Have you ever picked your nose and EATEN IT? Have you ever picked your nose, eaten it, and, by doing so, opened a portal to a world run by PIRATES?
Mabel Jones has.
Kidnapped, Mabel is forced to serve aboard The Feroshus Maggot with the strangest crew you'll ever meet. And the captain-an odious wolf named Idryss Ebenezer Split-won't let her go until she helps the pirates uncover the treasure they seek.*
Mabel's voyage takes her across the Greasy Pole of Certain Death, into the belly of a whale, and underground to a decrepit crypt. And she does it all...in pajamas!
Read on if you dare. You are promised a most unlikely adventure.
Editorial Reviews
PRAISE FOR THE UNLIKELY ADVENTURES OF MABEL JONES:
"From the first few sentences, I knew I was in for a uniquely wild and witty ride. If Lewis Carroll were writing for Monty Python, I imagine it might look something like this." —Christopher Healy, author of the Hero’s Guide series
"A speedy, splashy, snort-out-loud lark... Clever and fun.” —Jacqueline West, author of the New York Times bestselling Books of Elsewhere series
"First in a series, this comical novel should become a readaloud favorite." —Publishers Weekly, starred review!
"A zany and twisted pirate tale . . . for readers transitioning into longer chapter books." —School Library Journal
"A little bit of Monty Python, a touch of Capt. Jack Sparrow . . . This high-spirited, pirate-tastic romp is for kids who like their buccaneers a little on the wild side." —Kirkus Reviews
"Delightfully nasty, bonkers piratical fun. I laughed out loud!" —Robin Stevens, author of Murder is Bad Manners
03/01/2015
Gr 3–6—If you should ever decide to pick your nose, do not, under any circumstances, put what you find in there in your mouth. For if you perform this sacred deed, you might find yourself kidnapped from the safe Hooman world (by a surprisingly silent loris) and suddenly out to sea on a pirate ship filled with fearsome pirate animals such as goats, orangutans (formally a hair salon owner), pigs, and a foul-breathed wolf captain. If you did, you would be much like our brave hero Mabel Jones, who finds herself standing aboard the Feroshus Maggot as Captain Idyss Ebenezer Split prepares to have her walk the Greasy Pole of Certain Death. Mabel, clad only in her pajamas, saves herself from the torrent of the ocean by reading. Desperate to figure out the names of the pirates who stole pieces of a magical X from his father, Split has been waiting from someone to read them. The X will mark the spot of a magical treasure and, according to the pirates, open a portal back to the Hooman world so that Mabel might return home. So her ridiculous, dangerous, and vile adventures begin as she and her new cohorts track down the pieces. The heroine finds herself challenging a merciless bear to a milk drinking contest, breaking pirates out of prison, outwitting a vain duke, and breaking into a crypt in search of a deceased sheep. The ever-present narrator is obviously a pirate (and a very opinionated one at that) and adds a proper amount of exaggeration and attempted suspense to the tale telling. This style is entertaining, though better accomplished in Caroline Carlson's "The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates" series (HarperCollins). Black-and-white illustrations are sprinkled throughout. VERDICT A zany and twisted pirate tale that could be a good addition to collections for readers transitioning into longer chapter books.—Clare A. Dombrowski, Amesbury Public Library, MA
2015-03-11
Bloodthirsty pirates abduct their latest crew member only to find to their horror that it's…a girl! Adventure on the high seas comes to a young girl in the dead of night. Kidnapped after performing the "Deed" (picking her nose and eating it) that binds its performer to the nefarious Capt. Idyrss Ebeneezer Split, Mabel Jones is impressed into a crew of animal brigands on a quest for a missing treasure. She has already earned the distrust and hatred of a slow loris by the name of Omynus Hussh ("quiet as a peanut and sneaky as a woodlouse in a jar of raisins"), who may strike adult readers as something rather like a cuddly Gollum. If she is to return home she must aid the quest, befriend the loris, and outsmart a captain who has outrageously evil plans in mind. On display are some true laugh-out-loud moments, as with a piratical love letter calling a sweetheart "the rancid whale fat that fuels the lantern of my heart" and signed by "Brutal Laars the Dolphin Strangler." Better still, it keeps moving at a hearty clip, keeping readers engaged throughout. A little bit of Monty Python, a touch of Capt. Jack Sparrow, and a whole bucketful of good-natured gross-out humor round out the adventure. This high-spirited, pirate-tastic romp is for kids who like their buccaneers a little on the wild side. (Adventure. 8-11)
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940169438598 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Penguin Random House |
| Publication date: | 06/02/2015 |
| Series: | Mabel Jones Series , #1 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
| Age Range: | 8 - 11 Years |
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Chapter 4
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "The Unlikely Adventures of Mabel Jones"
by .
Copyright © 2016 Will Mabbitt.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Young Readers Group.
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