Pugs of the Frozen North

Title: Pugs of the Frozen North
Author: Philip Reeve
Illustrator: Sarah McIntyre
Publisher: OUP
Published: 2015
Format: Hardback
Source: My own copy

 

“Pugs Of The Frozen North” is the third book created by both Phillip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre, and I was lucky enough to attend a workshop focusing on it at the Guardian Offices in London. The book contains the same humour and depth as their first two collaborations “Oliver And The Seawigs” and “Cakes In Space”.

After the Lucky Star is crushed by ice, the cabin boy Shen escapes with 66 pugs and meets up with Sika, who plans to enter the Great Northern Race so that she can ask the Snowfather to cure her grandfather. Upon entering the race with the pugs taking the place of huskies, they find themselves up against a colourful cast of contestants and encountering snow trolls, sea monsters and noodle-eating yetis. The story contains many memorable characters including the adorable pugs themselves that help the heroes to make it through the race. Some of the contestants in the race remind me of characters from the classic TV series “Wacky Races”; for example, the moustache-twirling antagonist brings to mind the memorable villain Dick Dastardly. However, this is intertwined with an original plotline by Reeve in order to create a new and fascinating story that will appeal to all ages, not just fans of “Wacky Races”. Additionally, McIntyre includes stunning drawings on every page, which help to engage the child even more with the already amazing storytelling. The end papers have pictures of all the 66 adorable pugs in the book, along with their names. I had great fun trying to work out who they were named after, with some more obvious than others (Ardagh for example).

In conclusion, I love this book as much as I love Reeve and McIntyre's previous two books and would recommend this to people of all ages. Both of the creators have achieved in producing a well-written story with beautiful illustrations that you will want to read over and over again.