A Riddle For A King
Mark Forsyth, illustrated by Matthew Land
David Fickling Books

Philo lives a very mundane life with his Uncle Harry and Aunt Harriet in a house full of clocks. He is required to follow a strict time schedule- something he can never quite remember – and as a consequence longs for freedom and adventure. Suddenly though, as the three are about to depart for a day at the seaside, something very unexpected happens to Philo who happens to be standing beside the only clock in the house that doesn’t keep perfect time. He hears this clock strike thirteen and sees the door at its front open. From the door steps a strange little creature enquiring if Philo is the king. Then having been told that he isn’t the creature vanishes back inside the clock only to re-emerge and ask about a crown as well as saying that his name is Mr Spronkel before disappearing once more through the clock door.

This time however, Philo decides to follow the creature and thus begins a sequence of weird and wonderful happenings including encounters with giants, flying castles, a witch that turns children into teapots and a strange cook who won’t feed herself, to name just a few.

There’s also a more normal character, a girl named Verity who, after being lost in the woods, knocks on Mrs Cook’s door asking to be fed. Her clever thinking solves Mrs Cook’s non-eating issue and she also offers to help Philo get back home. Verity, who becomes a good friend to the boy has a strong sense of what’s right and adheres to it come what may – until she doesn’t – with catastrophic consequences.

With cleverly conceived conundrums, mind-bending riddles, paradoxes aplenty and puzzles of the most peculiar kind, this splendidly silly, surreal story will leave your brain somewhat bemused quite often. but it’s well worth the befuddlement as it’s enormously enjoyable, made even more so by Matthew Land’s terrific illustrations. I love too the afterword, which may (or may not) enable you to see from where some of the characters originated. By the way, in case you are wondering whether Philo ever finds his way back home, you’ll need to get your own copy of the book to find out.