The generous illustrations make this middle-grade fantasy really special, with character sketches, maps and building cross-sections that both delight and inform. Riddell’s distinctive pencil-sketch style provides spectacular detail that gives his magical world credibility and layers of interest. Dotted throughout the story’s narrative and pictures are familiar story characters – the Pied Piper, Puss-in-Boots, porridge-loving bears, an Owl-and-Pussycat duo and an old woman who lives in a shoe casually cameo alongside a cast of more original magical folk. The show-stopping page is a full-colour illustration of the towering giant Olaf Cloudscapper, which folds out to impress the sense of his enormity compared to the human characters.