By author Bertrand Santini and illustrator Laurent Gapaillard (Gecko Press)
The monstrous Yark loves children – fried, filleted, in a sauce or stew, however he can get them! But bad children give him stomach ache, and good children are becoming harder to find…until he meets little Madeleine.
It was Gapaillard’s striking cover art that first attracted me to ’The Yark’. The fine black and white drawings of a monster and a little girl rock pooling (using nets to dip for things in rock pools) left me wanting to know the story behind the image, and I was not disappointed.
The darkness of the writing almost evokes Dahl at his most deliciously gruesome, and the descriptions of how the Yark eats children leaves you with both a satisfying shiver and a tickled funny bone!
The illustrations, with their beautiful detail, add their own magic to this satisfying read, and really bring the unlikely pair to life.
This isn’t just a story about a monster who feeds on children though. It is also a story of a surprising friendship, and the love that can change not only lives but the human character. Well, monster character anyway!
The book itself is a physical joy to handle, and the cream pages just add to the feeling that you hold a small treasure in your hands. It’s certainly a book I’m very pleased I picked up!
