Tag Gary Northfield

Mighty Mega Pets: Freaky Food Fiasco!

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Mighty Mega Pets: Freaky Food Fiasco!
Gary Northfield,
Walker Books

A deliciously silly graphic novel that begins with a group of pets – Daisy the dog, Ginger the cat, Bubbles the goldfish and Arthur the tortoise eating their breakfast as usual when all of a sudden BOOM, they all (except Tortoise) acquire strange superpowers, thanks to a firing of laser beams from the next door moggy. So they form the Mighty Mega Pets, intent on discovering a) why they all got these powers b) whether other pets have also been similarly affected and c) the source of the so- called superpower pet food.

Meanwhile on the other side of Rumford inside a mysterious laboratory is Guinea Big – a guinea pig with huge ideas about himself and his experiments and his eyes set on world domination, no less. While he’s working on his enterprise, The Mighty Mega Pets have gained entry to Pete’s Pets shop. Wow! It appears to have the food they seek but there’s a problem with a parrot to contend with. There’s a surprise for the Mega Pets team as it’s Tortoise who they reluctantly allowed to act as their lookout, who discovers a buckle that could well have belonged to one of the Ruffians. Daisy thinks they are the likely ones behind the super-powered food. A recruitment drive for new Mega Pets members ensues as time is running out to … save the world! Possible or not?

Well, that would be telling; to find out what ensues, you’ll need (no use of superpowers allowed though) to get hold of your own copy of this crazy story wherein teamwork is essential, as is the ability to stand up to bullies.

Leif the Unlucky Viking: Saga of the Shooting Star

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Leif the Unlucky Viking: Saga of the Shooting Star
written & illustrated by Gary Northfield
Walker Books

Leif is a little wolf pup of the Viking variety. Despite being small in stature, he has big dreams. he wants to be an explorer just like his dad, Eric the Red. However, it’s certainly not going to be plain sailing for there are certain things that might get in his way. First of all, he has a habit of tripping up, which means he splits his trousers on average once a week, and sometimes he even falls down holes. Far from an auspicious beginning for an aspiring explorer, albeit a determined one.

It’s his determination that leads him to attempt to unravel the riddles of a witch, find a rock shard fallen from a shooting star and then wield its magical powers. Now this journey won’t be smooth sailing but that’s not unusual for the best explorers; he will need to battle with snow and ice, enter polar bear country,

pit his wits against giants and trolls, as well as extricating the team from within an enormous whale-like creature with a top resembling an island,

not to mention sorting out his errant sister. All of which means he’ll need every morsel of luck he can get.
What he does have for company though, are Olaf the irritated duck, Toki, a foolish puffin and Flora the decidedly whiffy muskox Shame none of them is any good at map reading.

Prepare for one calamity after another as you laugh your way through this tempestuous tale, liberally illustrated with Gary Northfield’s comic book style drawings that serve to render his writing even more anarchic than ever. Utterly and absurdly brilliant.