Sir Gadabout

Sir Gadabout is a walking disaster. Voted the "knight most likely to chop his own foot off in a fight," he shivers in his rusty armor when he has to face the brave Sir Lancelot in a joust. Sir Gads travels with his loyal squire Herbert to the wizard Merlin's cottage to get his ear put back in place after the joust, and survives an attack by Merlin's crazed guard turtle. Then, when Queen Guinevere is kidnapped, Sir Gads sets out to save the day! Full of puns and sophisticated humor, the chaotic quest taken by loveable Sir Gadabout, loyal Herbert, and Merlin's sarcastic cat, Sidney Smith, will make every reader—child or adult—laugh out loud. Distinctive line drawings by Tony Ross, illustrator of the Horrid Henry series and the Little Princess series, add to the madcap feel of these adventures,while short accessible chapters make Sir Gads ideal for reluctant readers.

Publishers Weekly

The inaugural volume in a British series, this Spamalot for elementary-schoolersintroduces "the Worst Knight in the World." Allowed at King Arthur's Round Table only because the monarch feels sorry for him, Sir Gadabout has been voted Knights Illustrated's "knight most likely to chop his own foot off in a fight." When readers first meet him, he is competing against Sir Lancelot in a jousting tournament. As the excited crowd roars the apparently conventional cheer, "Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb," Gadabout's decrepit horse bucks, catapulting the befuddled knight right out of his outsize armor and straight up into the air. Misadventure is the order of the day as Gadabout embarks on a quest to find the missing Queen Guinivere; Merlin helps out by turning Gadabout's none-too-bright squire invisible and lending his tart-tongued cat, Sidney Smith, to provide some brainpower. Witches, castles that stand on legs and more add to the scenery. Ross's antic line art enhances the high-energy nuttiness of the text. Eight other Sir Gadabout titles are being released this same month. Ages 9-12. (Feb.)

Martyn Beardsley is the author of the Sir Gadabout series as well as The Cat That Went Woof!, Deadly Winter, and Five Naughty Kittens. Tony Ross is the award-winning author and illustrator of the Little Princess series and the illustrator of the Sir Gadabout series as well as numerous other children's books, including Nicky and Relax Man.