Monday – Into the Cave of Thieves

Description

Monday – Into the Cave of Thieves

Total Mayhem # 1

Ralph Lazar

(Scholastic)

Monday – Into the Cave of Thieves is the first book in a new series by Ralph Lazar, illustrator of the excellent Rory Branagan books.

11-year-old Dash Candoo sits down for breakfast when his KB-15 watch alerts him to nearby danger. Outside his front door are three Wrestle-Scallywags and the two-tailed Devil Cat. A battle ensues, of course.  Then Dash heads for school and more Total Mayhem Situations.  His first class of the morning is….Vegetables, with his favourite teacher Mrs Hogmanny-Hog-Mahomm.  The lesson is all about learning Broccolish, because you never know when you might need to converse with some broccoli.

The problem for Dash however, is that Devil Cat tries to steal his teacher’s world famous giant carrot (which is 27 foot tall and still growing). This is just the start of a day that includes much more mayhem to come. First, there is the disappearance of the Wobble-Ball trophy.  Then, and to make matters worse, one of the world’s most expensive bottles of perfume is stolen.  It’s going to be a day full of total mayhem.

One of the best aspects of this book is that there is an accompanying on-line almanac.  Here readers can find many more of Lazar’s illustrations. The almanac is available here.