Publication Date: August 2023
Publisher: Digit Publications
Jeremy Hullah’s book tells the tale of the Baron of Beaux Botton, who indeed is very beastly. He is rude, spoilt, and uncaring preferring his own company and ideas than those of others around him. An archetypal villain who does not think twice about reneging on promises to suit himself and his own needs. During the course of the text, as the Baron rebukes everyone and everything, including his own mother, there are some useful conversations to be had with younger readers about kindness and the necessity of truth telling. The Baron’s inability to empathise or accept other viewpoints gets him into all sorts of trouble which adds to the humour of the text. His ‘beastliness’ seems to arrive from his insecurities particularly around the size of his stomach and frequent comments about his weight being aligned with his malignity felt a little problematic. However, this is a book that operates more in a fairytale world. The young children Hal and Greta who are tricked by the Baron, the ‘Warty Witch’ who I empathised with in her exhaustion of having to deal and try to negotiate with him, to the ambiguous character of Lumina at the end of the novel, each served a function in the ‘redemption’ narrative at the end of the story.
The illustrations served to support the narrative and there were moments that young readers would find hilarious, particularly the toilet humour! This balances out the more serious message of the book and makes it suitable for primary school children. An ideal Christmas present that would work as a springboard to delve into the world of fairytale and myth, illustrating the idea that not everything is as it seems and everyone has the propensity for change.
Thank you to @LiterallyPR for my ARC.
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