For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Amelia Fang before: she’s the vampire with a pet pumpkin, Squashy and a whole host of monstrous friends. In her newest adventure, we meet her stinky baby brother, Vincent.

Amelia is excited about attending her friend Grimaldi’s birthnight celebrations but her mum has followed suit with the rest of the household and come down with the Frankenflu. If Amelia wants to see her friends, she’s going to have to take her disgusting baby brother with her.

Babysitting is no easy task, but when Vincent rolls out of his coffin pram and into a strange, faintly menacing land, Amelia and her friends know that they’re going to have to go after him if they’re to save him from a toadally terrible fate.

Without a second thought, they cunningly disguise themselves as toads to head through the toadreeds to The Pond Beyond, where squashed toads are sent to live out their afterlives in a kind of toad heaven. But it’s strictly off limits to non-toads and Vincent will be hard to find….

I throughly enjoyed this totally charming but utterly disgusting quest to find Amelia’s baby brother. As ever in this wonderful series, the strong bond of friendship between the characters shone through. I love the sense of camaraderie and mutual support which exists between Amelia and her pals.

Amelia’s mixed emotions regarding her rather stinky baby brother will strike a chord with anyone who has recently welcomed a new sibling into their family. This book would be a wonderful gift for any child awaiting the arrival of a baby or perhaps having a difficult time adapting.

Packed with Laura Ellen Anderson’s distinctive illustrations and off-the-wall brand of humour, I’d recommended this book for any reader aged 7+

Library Girl.

* Many thanks to Egmont Publishing for inviting me to be a part of this blog tour *