"Maddy Kettle... looks fantastic: every panel exudes quirky, gorgeous atmosphere. " - NPR

Eleven-year-old Maddy loved working in her parents' bookstore... especially when joined by her pet flying toad Ralph. But that was before the mysterious Thimblewitch turned her mom & dad into kangaroo rats!
Now Maddy's on the adventure of a lifetime. To save her parents, she'll need to sneak past an army of spider-goblins, scarecrow warriors, and much more... Fortunately, an assortment of new friends await, including the cloud cartographers Harry and Silvio, a bear and raccoon who explore the world in their moon-balloon. They'll help her along the way, but in the end, the fate of everyone will depend on Maddy's courage, compassion, and creativity.
Full of surprises and stunning artwork, Maddy Kettle is a truly magical debut for Spectrum-Award-winning cartoonist Eric Orchard. Climb aboard and let your imagination soar!

"The tale is a stream of imaginative twists and aerial wonders, flowing along easily in a mix of full-page scenes and large sequential panels of lucidly drawn action and pithy dialogue. A sweet-mannered debut with plenty of lift." -- Kirkus

"Quirky, beautifully illustrated, and frankly looks like it's going to be an instant classic. Don't miss it." -- io9

 

This book was recognised by the Gryphon Award.

This is book 1 in Maddy Kettle .

This book has been graded for interest at 9-12 years.

There are 96 pages in this book. This is a picture book. A picture book uses pictures and text to tell the story. The number of words varies from zero ('wordless') to around 1k over 32 pages. Picture books are typically aimed at young readers (age 3-6) but can also be aimed at older children (7+). This book was published 2014 by Top Shelf Productions .

Eric Orchard is a cartoonist, illustrator and writer who tells richly imagined stories for kids of all ages. He is the author and illustrator of the Maddy Kettle books and a number of picture books. He has won a Spectrum award for his illustrations and has been included in the Society of Illustrators annual exhibition. In school he studied painting, drawing and art history. On his own time, Eric has studied folklore as well as comic books. Bera the One-Headed Troll is inspired by Norse fairy tales and illustrations by Arthur Rackham and Maurice Sendak. He considers himself very fortunate to be drawing books for kids all day. Eric currently lives in Toronto with his wife, two young sons, and studio companion: Albert Pineapple the parrot.