Excelsior Award

Stitch Head is a loveable little character – almost human – who has been created, and then forgotten, by his master the mad Professor Erasmus Erasmus. When Stitch Head inadvertently saves the professor’s latest monstrous creation (who has one eye, two noses and three ears) and calms him down with an anti-werewolf potion, the monster immediately vows to be Stitch Head’s ‘bestest friend’.

Stitch Head, who has never had a friend before and lives to serve his crazy master, is at first overwhelmed with the idea of friendship but the pair work together to save the town of Grubbers Nubbin and its fearful residents including the spunky Arabella Guff, from the arrival of a mysterious travelling carnival as well as from the mad Professor’s creations. Stitch Head recounts to his new friend how he was made out of leftovers by the professor, many years ago, when he was just a boy. But those idyllic early years ended abruptly when Stitch Head, along with all the boy’s toys, was locked away and the boy was instructed to take over his father’s work. Stitch Head now lives in the shadows, helping the Professor from afar and ensuring that his creations don’t escape, ‘for what humans fear…they will destroy.’

This graphic edition of Guy Bass’s novel will be highly popular with KS2 children. Both the style and the storyline are likely to win over previously reluctant readers; Stich Head has just the right mix of strong storyline and action-packed illustrations. The text, although mainly delivered using speech bubbles, builds a fun, fast-paced coherent narrative and Pete Williamson’s rollicking illustrations lend emotion and detail to the characters in this, the first of six Stitch Head graphic novels.