The very beautiful cover of COGHEART
I’ve just finished a wonderful book called COGHEART by Peter Bunzl. I think its age range is supposed to be pre-teen but frankly it could be enjoyed by anyone from 8 to 80, as far as I’m concerned. It reminded me of the Joan Aiken books (Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Night Birds on Nantucket) I read when I was younger and if you’re looking for a Christmas present for a passing child this will do nicely.
The story is set in an alternative Victorian universe (1896) and it starts with John Hartman and his mechanical fox Malkin being pursued by a Zeppelin. Malkin is put in the escape capsule with a note to John’s daughter, Lily. She is in a terrible school where she is practising her lock picking skills and reading her Penny Dreadfuls. Excellent heroine!
Robert Townsend is a clockmaker’s son, who is drawn into the story when he spies Malkin being pursued by the terrifying baddies – Roach and Mould. He puts them off the scent and then repairs Malkin and winds him back up again. Malkin is an excellent character, ingenious and mouthy. Just the kind of fox you would want to rescue you from trouble.
The world setting is excellent part Victorian, part alternative universe; it is inhabited by humans, mechanicals, mechanimals, and hybrids. There are some vile baddies and some splendid oaths: ‘Cogs and chronometers’ probably being my favourite. If you’re interested in airships and Zeppelins there’ll be enough detail to keep you entertained. The book ends with a thrilling denoument on top of Big Ben. A splendid story sweetly told. It left me with a longing for a mechanical fox called Malkin. Well, one can always dream. Are you listening Santa?
Finally, this is the 100th post of this blog and so it’s an opportunity to thank those of you stalwarts who have supported the blog from the beginning and welcome more recent followers. Thank you for following and welcome. I hope you enjoy the ride although unfortunately it won’t be in a Zeppelin!
What is your favourite book that you read as a child?
victoria blake 
This sounds wonderful! I’ll pretend I’m buying it for a passing child and might just forget to pass it on 😉
My favourite book as a child was The Secret Garden. I still dream of having a walled garden of my very own…
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Thanks Madame Bibi. It’s a great book. Definitely forget to pass it on! Ahh The Secret Garden – a fantastic book. I loved it.
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Congrats on your 100th! And always such a joy to read. Fave book when young? Dare I mention Ms Blyton? I loved the “**** of adventure” series (*castle/ river/ valley/ teapot, etc) mainly because one of the characters had a cockatoo called Kiki and I thought that was really cool. Now of course I live in a place where cockatoos come a’knockin’ on the windows and tear off the flowers in your pots for fun, so maybe I was just sensing my adventurous future…
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I always fantasized about owning enormous cats and when I met Maureen she had two whoppers and I thought, aha here they are and here she is and here I am if you see what I mean!
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💯 wonderful posts!
Always creative, always interesting, always informative and very generous to other authors.
It has been a joy to be with from the off.
The Paddington Bear 📚 were one of my absolute favourites as a child – I felt he taught me quite a lot, including where Darkest Peru 🇵🇪 might be!
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Thank you darling! You being the one that led me into the blogosphere I owe you a large debt of gratitude because I’ve enjoyed it so much! Paddington Bear – what a wonder. That fantastic scene when he tries to eat a grapefruit with the wrong side of his spoon. beautiful illustrations as well as text.
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Well, I’m so glad!
Yes, 🚂 🐻 – the complete 📦
🐾🌟💙
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Congratulations on 100 posts Vicky! This book has a great cover, it would definitely attract me to read – and the mechanical fox sounds great. One of my childhood favourites was Gobbolino the Witch’s Cat.
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It is great isn’t it? Peter is an animator so I hope a film is in the works. Gobbolino – excellent!
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