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Far-Flung Adventures #2
Corby Flood
Corby Flood and her family are about to set sail on the rather ramshackle cruise ship, the S.S. Euphonia. Her boisterous brothers might not have noticed that anything is wrong, but Corby is highly observant and has a lot of time for note-taking and eavesdropping.
Onboard, among the odd passengers and eccentric crew, there is a strange group of men in bowler-hats who call themselves The Brotherhood of Clowns. There's also a melancholy wailing sound coming from the hold. It's strictly out of bounds but Corby can't help investigating. What could be inside the crate she discovers down in the hold?
As the ship arrives at its destination, Corby must enlist the help of some very well mustachioed locals to uncover the contents of the crate and the dark secrets of the menacing Clowns...
Onboard, among the odd passengers and eccentric crew, there is a strange group of men in bowler-hats who call themselves The Brotherhood of Clowns. There's also a melancholy wailing sound coming from the hold. It's strictly out of bounds but Corby can't help investigating. What could be inside the crate she discovers down in the hold?
As the ship arrives at its destination, Corby must enlist the help of some very well mustachioed locals to uncover the contents of the crate and the dark secrets of the menacing Clowns...
248 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2005
10 people are currently reading
412 people want to read
About the author
Paul Stewart
217 books917 followersPaul Stewart is a highly regarded author of books for young readers – from picture books to football stories, fantasy and horror. Together with Chris Riddell he is co-creator of the bestselling Edge Chronicles, which has sold more than three million copies and is available in over twenty languages. They have also collaborated together on lots of other exciting books for children of all ages. The Far-Flung Adventure series includes the Gold Smarties Prize Winner Fergus Crane, and Corby Flood and Hugo Pepper, both Silver Nestle Prize Winners. Then there are the Barnaby Grimes books, two Muddle Earth adventures, and the sci-fi Scavenger and fantasy Wyrmeweald trilogies. For younger readers there is the Blobheads series, while for the very young, Paul has written several picture books, including the Rabbit and Hedgehog series, In the Dark of the Night and, his latest, Wings.
Other authors by this name disambiguation Note:
Paul Stewart - business and management books
Other authors by this name disambiguation Note:
Paul Stewart - business and management books
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
September 12, 2016
Excellent! I'd say it's even better than Fergus Crane, which was the first book in the Far Flung Adventure Series. Corby Flood builds upon elements from Fergus Crane, but is an entirely different story in an entire different setting. This series is truly remarkable! These books are well worth reading; they are easy to read, original, and entertaining – better than Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
Corby Flood features five sinister clowns with “text-style” names such as: Mr. Garamond, Mr. Franklin-Gothic and Mr. Times-Roman. Like Harry Potter, Corby Flood features new made up sports, but unlike Harry Potter, it's not just one sport. Like Fergus Crane, creative inventions and engineering are featured.
A fun sample passage from Corby Flood:
“...'but don't cry little one. Konstantin Pavel will get you back to your parents and your sister and your brothers.”
“You will?” said Corby, wiping her eyes.
“Yes,” said the mayor, “but first I must know one thing.”
“Yes?” said Corby.
“Why?” said the mayor, “are you dressed as a bumblebee?”
A Few Other Passages:
It's quiet and dark here, and the forest floor sways and rolls beneath my feet. Sometimes I stumble, but I do not fall over, because I'm trapped inside this tree where it is always dark. Oh, how I long to see the sun again.
How did I get here? I can hardly remember . . . .
Ah, yes, that's it. I followed my tongue. The sweet petals tasted so good, melting in my mouth, until I walked into this tree and got trapped inside.
Now there is no more sun. Just quiet and darkness and swaying. I feel so sad. My heart is so full of sadness that is must surely break . . . .
I will sing to let the sadness out. Perhaps if I sing, the forest will stop rolling and swaying, and the sun will come back, and my heart will not break . . . .
just yet.
______
She set off along the deck towards the stairs to the cargo hold, trying to make as little noise as possible - although that was difficult, she realized, when you're dressed up as a bumblebee and your paper wings rustle.
_______
Now in its new revised edition, Hoffendinck's Guide is once again available to all travelers in search of the overlooked, the undervisited or the misunderstood.
Corby Flood features five sinister clowns with “text-style” names such as: Mr. Garamond, Mr. Franklin-Gothic and Mr. Times-Roman. Like Harry Potter, Corby Flood features new made up sports, but unlike Harry Potter, it's not just one sport. Like Fergus Crane, creative inventions and engineering are featured.
A fun sample passage from Corby Flood:
“...'but don't cry little one. Konstantin Pavel will get you back to your parents and your sister and your brothers.”
“You will?” said Corby, wiping her eyes.
“Yes,” said the mayor, “but first I must know one thing.”
“Yes?” said Corby.
“Why?” said the mayor, “are you dressed as a bumblebee?”
A Few Other Passages:
It's quiet and dark here, and the forest floor sways and rolls beneath my feet. Sometimes I stumble, but I do not fall over, because I'm trapped inside this tree where it is always dark. Oh, how I long to see the sun again.
How did I get here? I can hardly remember . . . .
Ah, yes, that's it. I followed my tongue. The sweet petals tasted so good, melting in my mouth, until I walked into this tree and got trapped inside.
Now there is no more sun. Just quiet and darkness and swaying. I feel so sad. My heart is so full of sadness that is must surely break . . . .
I will sing to let the sadness out. Perhaps if I sing, the forest will stop rolling and swaying, and the sun will come back, and my heart will not break . . . .
just yet.
______
She set off along the deck towards the stairs to the cargo hold, trying to make as little noise as possible - although that was difficult, she realized, when you're dressed up as a bumblebee and your paper wings rustle.
_______
Now in its new revised edition, Hoffendinck's Guide is once again available to all travelers in search of the overlooked, the undervisited or the misunderstood.
September 6, 2009
What a book!
CORBY FLOOD is a very short, happy, light hearted dream of a book.
I read this in under a day and absolutely loved it!
Its very original, the towns along the coast seem fantastic, the characters area all amazing, and the illustrations area ll amazing!
The illustrations make the book! :)
All in all- this book is very cheerful and light hearted, marvelous pictures, brilliant plot.
I found my self wanting to read more every time i stopped, and now i want to go out and buy the other two in the series.
BRILLIANT!
CORBY FLOOD is a very short, happy, light hearted dream of a book.
I read this in under a day and absolutely loved it!
Its very original, the towns along the coast seem fantastic, the characters area all amazing, and the illustrations area ll amazing!
The illustrations make the book! :)
All in all- this book is very cheerful and light hearted, marvelous pictures, brilliant plot.
I found my self wanting to read more every time i stopped, and now i want to go out and buy the other two in the series.
BRILLIANT!
August 28, 2012
A FIVE star childrens book rating.
I read this book out loud to my eight year old daughter. We managed to knock out two chapters a night, although she was completely engrossed in the story from the second chapter and would have preferred me to read all night.
As an avid reader, she has come to expect a solid story and most importantly, great characters. In Corby Flood she found everything she enjoyed in a book.
Corby Flood is an 9 year old girl who goes on an adventure on a decrepit old cruise liner. She is leaving her place of home and moving to another to start a new school with her 4 brothers and sister. The adventure is mainly about Corby wandering around the failing ship getting in the way of the evil company of clowns, who are archetypical in their badness. Just the type of clowns that scare the daylights out of you in their nasty nefarious ways. Each clown is rather unique and two of the them Mr Times Roman and Mr Franklin Gothic (yes we called them the font clowns) have awesome characters to work with. I built 5 distinctive character accents for the five clowns and I have to say, I had a lot of fun reading the clown parts in the story.
There are many characters to enjoy in this story, the Captain of the ship, who surprisingly sounded a lot like Eyore from Winnie the Pooh, A snooty Second in command, John-Jolyon Letchworth-Crisp who of course had a smarmy posh accent and a fourth engineer bloke who was a real nice guy voice.
The story is quite interestingly told, the author does a amazing job of building tension in a storyline, takes you to the end, has the character resolve the issue but not tell you, so you are constantly waiting to see what the character now knows and when you'll be given a clue. I thought I would find this frustrating, but it just added to the drama and the suspense and I found myself looking forward to the next nights chapters in anticipation.
To break the story up, Corby is using a travel guide, which has pages of information on the cities they are passing, this is often humorous and we'd often stop the story and discuss the geography of the map (which is on the inside of the sleev of the hardback) and the differences of the towns. The illustrations in this are well done and fun, we really enjoyed reading Corby's own hand written notes, especially as it is something very similar to what my daughter does herself.
The story continues to build and adds even more characters into the mix with a visit to a town called Doralakia whose habitants sound distinctly Mediterranean. Nico and Spiros were a hilarious pairing and I created a whole new Doralakian accent for them. I think from this review, you can easily see that I enjoyed reading this story as much as Emma did listening to it.
I am going to finish on a couple of points. First thing Emma said to me when we finished tonight was; "Can you buy the next book? I want to read more of these. Can you buy it tonight so we can start tomorrow?" (sorry Kevin the Troll, looks like you are going back into the TBR pile).
Secondly, this book had us discussing the story and the characters at dinner. Was describing the characters, their accents, their flaws, she had them all mapped out, the story was wanting to be told out loud to the rest of the family. Kudos to you Mr Stewart, that kind of participation in a story deserves a big shout out.
The only disappointment I can see coming is that book three is not about Corby and I don't think the clowns are coming back either.
Thoroughly recommend for 8-10 year olds.
If you havent read to your kids for a while, this one might get you back in the habit.
I read this book out loud to my eight year old daughter. We managed to knock out two chapters a night, although she was completely engrossed in the story from the second chapter and would have preferred me to read all night.
As an avid reader, she has come to expect a solid story and most importantly, great characters. In Corby Flood she found everything she enjoyed in a book.
Corby Flood is an 9 year old girl who goes on an adventure on a decrepit old cruise liner. She is leaving her place of home and moving to another to start a new school with her 4 brothers and sister. The adventure is mainly about Corby wandering around the failing ship getting in the way of the evil company of clowns, who are archetypical in their badness. Just the type of clowns that scare the daylights out of you in their nasty nefarious ways. Each clown is rather unique and two of the them Mr Times Roman and Mr Franklin Gothic (yes we called them the font clowns) have awesome characters to work with. I built 5 distinctive character accents for the five clowns and I have to say, I had a lot of fun reading the clown parts in the story.
There are many characters to enjoy in this story, the Captain of the ship, who surprisingly sounded a lot like Eyore from Winnie the Pooh, A snooty Second in command, John-Jolyon Letchworth-Crisp who of course had a smarmy posh accent and a fourth engineer bloke who was a real nice guy voice.
The story is quite interestingly told, the author does a amazing job of building tension in a storyline, takes you to the end, has the character resolve the issue but not tell you, so you are constantly waiting to see what the character now knows and when you'll be given a clue. I thought I would find this frustrating, but it just added to the drama and the suspense and I found myself looking forward to the next nights chapters in anticipation.
To break the story up, Corby is using a travel guide, which has pages of information on the cities they are passing, this is often humorous and we'd often stop the story and discuss the geography of the map (which is on the inside of the sleev of the hardback) and the differences of the towns. The illustrations in this are well done and fun, we really enjoyed reading Corby's own hand written notes, especially as it is something very similar to what my daughter does herself.
The story continues to build and adds even more characters into the mix with a visit to a town called Doralakia whose habitants sound distinctly Mediterranean. Nico and Spiros were a hilarious pairing and I created a whole new Doralakian accent for them. I think from this review, you can easily see that I enjoyed reading this story as much as Emma did listening to it.
I am going to finish on a couple of points. First thing Emma said to me when we finished tonight was; "Can you buy the next book? I want to read more of these. Can you buy it tonight so we can start tomorrow?" (sorry Kevin the Troll, looks like you are going back into the TBR pile).
Secondly, this book had us discussing the story and the characters at dinner. Was describing the characters, their accents, their flaws, she had them all mapped out, the story was wanting to be told out loud to the rest of the family. Kudos to you Mr Stewart, that kind of participation in a story deserves a big shout out.
The only disappointment I can see coming is that book three is not about Corby and I don't think the clowns are coming back either.
Thoroughly recommend for 8-10 year olds.
If you havent read to your kids for a while, this one might get you back in the habit.
May 14, 2009
I am really liking this author. I love all the crazy inventions and how there characters have history with each others history. This was a library book so I was heart broken that I could not unfold the cover to study the map in detail. I would like to take a voyage on the SS Euphonia and stop at all 10 ports of call. The 100 year old grocery store...I don't know. Every thing else sounds intriguing. Delightful illustrations throughout. 1-2 day read. I really like that the clowns don't like to be laughed at and are named after fonts...or maybe fonts are named after them.
January 6, 2018
While reading in German is not a problem for either me or my son, I still would’ve targeted read this book in English. Nevertheless, it was a delightful book, full of colorful characters and a rather normal little girl who is at the center of a very big hurricane. The illustrations are wonderful and quite evocative.
September 14, 2008
Always one to judge a book by its cover, I picked this off the shelves at the Stoughton Public Library as well. It's smaller than your average book, though just as thick. It's nearly square in shape, and has fantastic illustrations. The pages are a great texture.
March 24, 2022
"Corby Flood" (Far-Flung Adventures 2) by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell Delicately drawn lines illustrate fanciful phrases. Portraits of passengers and crew populate S.S. Euphonia, formerly elegant cruise ship that no longer stops at the scenic coastal Dalcretian villages in Hoffendinck's Guide. Our intrepid heroine fills the right-hand personal Notes side with observations. At destination, she will attend Harbor Heights School with her four boisterous ball-games playing older brothers 15-12 p183. Smarmy Lt Jon-Jolyn Letchworth-Crisp p53 pursues elder sister Serena 18. Cheerful hard-working cook-doctor-engineer-dogsbody Arthur p215 is also smitten. Five creepy threatening green bowlered Brotherhood of Clowns p221 are named after fonts Misters Times-Roman, Garamond, Bembo, Palatino, Franklin-Gothic p46, and prepared to kill to guard a secret, singing sadly from a large box in a distant storeroom. Mama, Nico, and Spiro Mespoliki and the Hundreds-Year-Old Grocery Store are saviors deus ex machina.
Every chapter begins with italicized lament from a trapped royal gardens pet fed with "petals" aka marshmallows, that lay a beckoning trail for a brave curious girl. Her brilliant father Winthrop mourns his confidence in engineering expertise, lost when a shoddily-made ampersand escalating threading-bolt failed in his biggest bridge. When Flood ingenuity solves the mystery and repairs the ship, everything ends happily. This series is intended for younger ages - less horrific monsters and deaths - also less poetic flights of impossible possibilities.
I love to go back for bits hither thither, preview, sum-up; a Table of Contents assembling the imaginative titles would improve pre-re-readability. I cannot always remember how to spell the names but my tongue tickles sounding them out. The spirit of classics sprinkle extravagantly - many small adventurers have many small adventures.
http://www.stewartandriddell.co.uk/
http://www.stewartandriddell.co.uk/fa...
downloads: wallpaper, coloring sheet
extracts MS-Word or free Oracle Open Office
Corby Flood - First 7 pg without illustrations from ch 1
Fergus Crane - 20 pg (Ch1, part ch2) without pictures
Every chapter begins with italicized lament from a trapped royal gardens pet fed with "petals" aka marshmallows, that lay a beckoning trail for a brave curious girl. Her brilliant father Winthrop mourns his confidence in engineering expertise, lost when a shoddily-made ampersand escalating threading-bolt failed in his biggest bridge. When Flood ingenuity solves the mystery and repairs the ship, everything ends happily. This series is intended for younger ages - less horrific monsters and deaths - also less poetic flights of impossible possibilities.
I love to go back for bits hither thither, preview, sum-up; a Table of Contents assembling the imaginative titles would improve pre-re-readability. I cannot always remember how to spell the names but my tongue tickles sounding them out. The spirit of classics sprinkle extravagantly - many small adventurers have many small adventures.
http://www.stewartandriddell.co.uk/
http://www.stewartandriddell.co.uk/fa...
downloads: wallpaper, coloring sheet
extracts MS-Word or free Oracle Open Office
Corby Flood - First 7 pg without illustrations from ch 1
Fergus Crane - 20 pg (Ch1, part ch2) without pictures
August 4, 2011
fun quirky read. I really enjoy this author/illustrator duo. they create some interesting and unique stories. Corby Flood is no different. This time round they have a female protagonist, but I think it will still appeal to boys. Fun!
July 15, 2014
I cannot repeat myself enough - I love the Stewart-Riddell team, together they creat marvellous worlds I simply do not want to leave. This series is great for young readers ... and those who are young at heart.
April 14, 2015
Paul Stewart continues to deliver creative, ingenious stories of adventures flung far and wide! The cleverly written world of Corby Flood is filled with danger, mystery, and fun for all ages. A good read.
April 25, 2009
I absolutely love these books. What fun!! Great pictures.
June 16, 2016
This book is fun to read and interesting. Though it's not hard to read it's not boring. This is good for mostly teens.
April 12, 2021
Ik ken Paul Stewart en Chris Riddell van "De Klifkronieken". Ik vond het zo spijtig toen die reeks eindigde. Het was dus geweldig toen ik tijdens een tweedehands boekenverkoop in de bibliotheek een exemplaar vond van "Corby Vloed en de Keizerin van de zeeën". Het spijtige was dat ik pas achteraf ontdekte dat verschillende stukken met tipp-ex waren uitgewist. Het duurde even om het bovenste laagje eraf te schrapen zodat de onderliggende tekst terug een stukje zichtbaar was en er dan overheen te schrijven. Eindelijk kon ik hem lezen.
Het is een leuk verhaal waar je midden in de actie ingeworpen wordt. Corby maakt samen met haar familie een zeereis. In een reisgids maakt ze aantekeningen over het personeel en de andere passagiers. Zo ontdekt ze een complot dat in het grote geheel van het boek niet zo'n grote rol speelt. Het leuke aan het boek is de sfeer die geschept wordt, de relaties tussen de verschillende personages. Er is een beetje spanning, maar niet zo fel als bij "De Klifkronieken"; dit boek lijkt me dus op een jongere leeftijd gericht.
Maar het was zeker aangenaam om te lezen en ik kreeg er eigenlijk zin in om "De Klifkronieken" opnieuw te lezen.
Het is een leuk verhaal waar je midden in de actie ingeworpen wordt. Corby maakt samen met haar familie een zeereis. In een reisgids maakt ze aantekeningen over het personeel en de andere passagiers. Zo ontdekt ze een complot dat in het grote geheel van het boek niet zo'n grote rol speelt. Het leuke aan het boek is de sfeer die geschept wordt, de relaties tussen de verschillende personages. Er is een beetje spanning, maar niet zo fel als bij "De Klifkronieken"; dit boek lijkt me dus op een jongere leeftijd gericht.
Maar het was zeker aangenaam om te lezen en ik kreeg er eigenlijk zin in om "De Klifkronieken" opnieuw te lezen.
September 11, 2017
This book, Corby Flood, is about a young girl on an old cruise liner. Once called the “Empress of the seas,” the “SS. Ephonia,” once the fanciest and most advanced cruise liner on the seven seas, is now a cargo ship. Corby’s dad, once very rich and famous, recently suffered a “great disappointment,” and lost all of the families fame and fortune. (You don't find what the disappointment is till near the end of the book, making for an intriguing mystery.) Corby, her four older brothers and one older sister, are on their way to harbor heights, a boarding school. On the boat, mysterious characters lurk around the different decks, the most mysterious, the band clowns. Corby then becomes entangled in a mystery surrounding the clowns, having to solve it herself. I liked this book because it was exciting. It made me want to keep reading, I didn't want it to end. The strange technologies in this book can only exist in this world, and make me wish I had them. From walking deck chairs to self folding rooms and self serving diner tables, the imagination the author had was amazing. This book makes me wish that the made up islands were real and the people on them, too.
August 31, 2022
Book 2 of the Far Flung Adventures.
Loved travelling on the SS Euphonia with Corby and trying to get to the bottom of the mystery unfolding along the way.
The world building in this series is great and love being able to flick back to the map given at the front of the books to help get a bearing on our locations throughout.
With a small set of characters, initially, it was easy to form an opinion on each and brilliant trying to work out who was suspicious and what their plans were.
Really enjoyed this one.
Loved travelling on the SS Euphonia with Corby and trying to get to the bottom of the mystery unfolding along the way.
The world building in this series is great and love being able to flick back to the map given at the front of the books to help get a bearing on our locations throughout.
With a small set of characters, initially, it was easy to form an opinion on each and brilliant trying to work out who was suspicious and what their plans were.
Really enjoyed this one.
April 6, 2022
i'm so glad my local library stocked this series when i was a kid! as delightful, whimsical and imaginative as i remember. stewart's writing paired with riddell's illustration is so wonderful, this was as humourous and enjoyable as it was when i was younger though it's definitely a much quicker read than i remember!
April 3, 2020
What a lovely adventure. Also, great characters!
As always I read it for Chris Riddell's illustrations.
Side note: I read this in one sitting, and happened to see the time when I started - this book took me exactly half an hour to read!
As always I read it for Chris Riddell's illustrations.
Side note: I read this in one sitting, and happened to see the time when I started - this book took me exactly half an hour to read!
March 2, 2021
The story is slow to launch, and it's kinda dull--though still in the mode of "Fergus Crane." Both whimsical and fun, there's certainly enough to like here, if you're looking to continue with the Far-flung Adventures series
November 16, 2022
This was another fun easy to read book! The first half felt surprisingly slow and I wish there had been more hints and exciting moments earlier on but the second half definitely picked up in pace. Overall a good read if not a favourite.
Read
March 7, 2020Klárka a
April 19, 2021
Very nice read.
June 30, 2023
Chciałam dać drugą szansę tej książce po jakichś ośmiu latach i nadal sądzę to samo - jest przenudna XD
August 2, 2024
"Clown Crime is no laughing matter."
October 13, 2024
Adorable
August 13, 2025
It's a fairly fine book for children, but I would advise on others. The plot is interesting though, and has some peculiar moments where the book is funny, mysterious or just tensed.
August 27, 2025
zoveel humor, spanning en originaliteit...Stewart en Riddell moet je een keer lezen!
March 18, 2017
Story telling from a different viewpoint, a young boy. Fantasy meets reality and a whole lot of fun.
October 19, 2012
This is the tricky second album of the Far-Flung Adventures series, especially after getting a Gold Smarties Prize for the first in the series, Fergus Crane. So, obviously, one would expect it to be sunk, however with Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell steering the ship, that is highly unlikely. Indeed, this book won the Silver Nestle Prize, so a drop in grade on the award, but an award of high standing nevertheless.
It is set in the same "universe" as the first book, and there are occasional references to characters and locations from the first book, however the stories are more or less totally detached and could be read out of order, though you would miss the small references, which are part of the great joy of these authors' books.
Corby Flood is a young girl, the youngest of her large family, on a voyage, relocating following a big disappointment for father's career. The tale is predominantly set on-board the SS Euphonia, an aged cruise liner, that is now more of a cargo ship in its latter years. There are the usual cast for an adventure story, the heroine, Corby, a supportive but mostly preoccupied family, a gang of villains, clowns in this case, and a miscellany of odd-ball stereotypes. Add to this strange noises, secret locations, strange goings on in the night and trips to unusual places, and the formula is mixed.
There is not a great deal of depth to the story, but it is told well with excellent illustrations. Kids will most likely enjoy it, and the odd adult fan of the authors, like myself, may well do so too. I preferred Fergus Crane, as it had more originality and suspense, but this is worth the read.
It is set in the same "universe" as the first book, and there are occasional references to characters and locations from the first book, however the stories are more or less totally detached and could be read out of order, though you would miss the small references, which are part of the great joy of these authors' books.
Corby Flood is a young girl, the youngest of her large family, on a voyage, relocating following a big disappointment for father's career. The tale is predominantly set on-board the SS Euphonia, an aged cruise liner, that is now more of a cargo ship in its latter years. There are the usual cast for an adventure story, the heroine, Corby, a supportive but mostly preoccupied family, a gang of villains, clowns in this case, and a miscellany of odd-ball stereotypes. Add to this strange noises, secret locations, strange goings on in the night and trips to unusual places, and the formula is mixed.
There is not a great deal of depth to the story, but it is told well with excellent illustrations. Kids will most likely enjoy it, and the odd adult fan of the authors, like myself, may well do so too. I preferred Fergus Crane, as it had more originality and suspense, but this is worth the read.
December 23, 2016
I have noted in Mr. Stewart’s series The Edge Chronicles that adventure and derring-do seem mainly placed in the hands of men and boys. Women are often relegated to being girlfriends, wives and mothers. The girls do have adventures but they seem to revolve around the men in their lives.
I had thought that this situation was rectified with Corby Flood in this installment of Far-Flung Adventures. She is inquisitive, observant, kind hearted and smart. But her behavior tends to be on the reactionary side. When she discovers something amiss, she goes running to her mother to tell her about it, something no boy would ever do. (Mrs. Flood has little going for her except being a pretty face. As a wife and mother, she trails behind her inventive husband and smiles indulgently on her rambunctious, rough-housing and sportive sons. She’s so incidental to the plot you could leave her out entirely and the book wouldn’t suffer much for her loss.)
Corby does wind up travelling to one of the fantastic places she read about in her guidebook. But she gets there through pure accident, by falling asleep in a crate after eating a drugged marshmallow and being mistaken for freight. When she finds herself in the delightful country of Doralakia, she is at first thrilled. Then she is dismayed and bursts into tears when she realizes she will not see her family again for a year since they are travelling on a boat that never stops anywhere along the ports of the Dalcretian coastline.
She’s spent all her time reading and dreaming of seeing these places she never thought she’d go, dreading going off to a terrible school and being sidelined by her noisy brothers. Now she has the chance of a lifetime to see this marvelous place and she gets upset. Where’s her sense of adventure?
Oh, well. There are some men who can write about females convincingly undertaking adventure. Maybe someday Mr. Stewart will get it right.
I had thought that this situation was rectified with Corby Flood in this installment of Far-Flung Adventures. She is inquisitive, observant, kind hearted and smart. But her behavior tends to be on the reactionary side. When she discovers something amiss, she goes running to her mother to tell her about it, something no boy would ever do. (Mrs. Flood has little going for her except being a pretty face. As a wife and mother, she trails behind her inventive husband and smiles indulgently on her rambunctious, rough-housing and sportive sons. She’s so incidental to the plot you could leave her out entirely and the book wouldn’t suffer much for her loss.)
Corby does wind up travelling to one of the fantastic places she read about in her guidebook. But she gets there through pure accident, by falling asleep in a crate after eating a drugged marshmallow and being mistaken for freight. When she finds herself in the delightful country of Doralakia, she is at first thrilled. Then she is dismayed and bursts into tears when she realizes she will not see her family again for a year since they are travelling on a boat that never stops anywhere along the ports of the Dalcretian coastline.
She’s spent all her time reading and dreaming of seeing these places she never thought she’d go, dreading going off to a terrible school and being sidelined by her noisy brothers. Now she has the chance of a lifetime to see this marvelous place and she gets upset. Where’s her sense of adventure?
Oh, well. There are some men who can write about females convincingly undertaking adventure. Maybe someday Mr. Stewart will get it right.
November 13, 2015
do love a good romp by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell. These two gentlemen compliment each other very well. As Stewart weaves his magical way with the story, Riddell puts to paper beautiful images that appear throughout the book. I love both the writing style and the artwork in this series. The books in both of their series are just plain fun to read and a delight to finish.
Corby Flood is an excellent read and a fine addition to the Far-Flung Adventures series. I loved all of the characters in this book, especially the Brotherhood of Clowns. I ask you, "Why wouldn't you laugh at a clown?" I know that I would want to.
Corby Flood is a book that can be enjoyed by readers of any age, but is intended for young readers. Personally, I love middle school books because they are full of adventure and the action is non-stop. Far-Flung Adventures books by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell stand out as some of the best books out there for children. They open the doors to imagination and let kids dream the impossible.
So, pick up a copy of Corby Flood today and let you child dream about adventure on the high seas.
I rated this book a 9 out of 10.
Corby Flood is an excellent read and a fine addition to the Far-Flung Adventures series. I loved all of the characters in this book, especially the Brotherhood of Clowns. I ask you, "Why wouldn't you laugh at a clown?" I know that I would want to.
Corby Flood is a book that can be enjoyed by readers of any age, but is intended for young readers. Personally, I love middle school books because they are full of adventure and the action is non-stop. Far-Flung Adventures books by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell stand out as some of the best books out there for children. They open the doors to imagination and let kids dream the impossible.
So, pick up a copy of Corby Flood today and let you child dream about adventure on the high seas.
I rated this book a 9 out of 10.
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