The Mystery of Eatum Hall

Glenda and Horace Pork-Fowler are invited to Eatum Hall to enjoy a weekend of food and leisure, in John Kelly and Cathy Tinknell's "The Mystery of Eatum Hall," (Templar Publishing 2004). The unsuspecting food lovers overlook the sinsister messages and macination of their supiciously absent host, who fattens them up by giving them delicious desserts and yummy picnics. This book is a wonderful read visually and literally, readers root for the naive guests as the authors drop clues throughout the story and illustrations. The vuvid pictures jump off the pages and keep the reader turning to see what happens next.

The Mystery of Eatum Hall (Candlewick Press, 2005) is the charming story of Horace and Glenda Pork-Fowler, a pig and goose married couple, who are invited to a mysterious weekend of gourmet dining from an equally mysterious host, Dr. Hunter. Upon arrival at Eatum Hall, Horace and Glenda spend the weekend enjoying the food and luxuries provided by Dr. Hunter, who claims to be absent due to business pressures. The Pork-Fowlers, however, unbeknownst to them, are fattening themselves up to be served in a special pie for Dr. Hunter and his friends. Children will love discovering that Dr. Hunter is a wolf stalking his prey while Mr. and Mrs. Pork-Fowler innocently amble and unknowingly enjoy their weekend. Tincknell's glorious illustrations flood the page with color and the hilarious cartooned characters of the pudgy pig, Horace, and the plump goose Glenda as they engorge in the shadowed dining room, chase butterflies with a net in the garden, and float in the backyard pool. The illustrations engage the reader from the title page, starting the story well before the text. These full-color, page spread illustrations change views so the reader can experience the story from the perspective of the Pork-Fowlers as well as Dr. Hunter, while the distribution of light and shadow playfully alerts the audience to the hidden dangers within Eatum Hall. The clever text and cute personifications of the main characters will delight both children and parents alike.

The Mystery of Eatum Hall (Candlewick, 2004) opens with happy-go-lucky couple Glenda and Horace Pork-Fowler who have been invited by the mysterious Dr. Hunter to his Eatum Hall home for a weekend sure to satisfy their appetites. However, Glenda and Horace soon find upon arriving that their "friend" is nowhere to be found. In his place, they find a note promising that gourmet food service will be provided to them with just the push of a button and that Dr. Hunter will "meat" them on Sunday. Thinking nothing of the matter, the couple proceeds to have a grand time. Told from Horace's first-person perspective, this story blends just the right amounts of humor and mystery to have readers suspended in both laughter and worry at Glenda and Horace's obliviousness to the potential danger of Dr. Hunter. Illustrations by Cathy Tinknell vary in tone from bright and brassy to dark and shadowy as conflict involving the real identity of Dr. Hunter engages the reader. Attention to detail, such as the historical wolf portraits on the inside walls, will also spark intrigue among readers looking for clues and leave readers wanting to be a part of the Glenda and Horace's future escapades.

You could lose hours looking at the art. The story is great. And the kids love it!

No one has ever been able to explain sufficiently to me why it is that some picture books receive all the press and fanfare of that of a shuttle takeoff while other mosey quietly onstage and off in relative obscurity. "The Mystery of Eatum Hall" belongs firmly in the latter category, and this is a shame. The book has a distinctly British tenor to it. A kind of Edward Gorey (yes, I know he was American) meets "Wind In the Willows" feel. While some children may prefer their picture books to end on a somewhat less gruesome note, I believe firmly that for the kid with a mildly twisted sense of humor, no book can serve them better than this moderately dark picture book. A great comeuppance on behalf of all the Red Riding Hoods of the world. Glenda and Horace Pork-Fowler (an ostrich-like bird and pig, respectively) are not particularly surprised when they receive a summons in the mail. But then, they're really not the kinds of animals to be surprised by anything. The note comes from the mysterious Mr. Hunter who recently purchased nearby Eatum Hall. In it, the two are invited to a delightful week-end of food tasting, courtesy of Mr. Hunter himself. Ever fans of the gastronomic, the two pack their bags and head to the mysterious Hall. Once there, they find their host missing, but mechanical servants present who can attend their every whim. Though there's something distinctly creepy about the place (the eyes in portraits follow the two everywhere, certain rooms in the home are always locked, and the bed seems to be some kind of scale) the two don't feel even a twinge of misgivings regarding their absent "friend". It's only when Mr. Hunter's mysterious plans go a little too right that our friends return home happy (if somewhat larger) while Hunter's fate is reminiscent of the wolf in the original Grimm telling of The Three Little Pigs. Oh, why be coy? I'll just come out and say it. He gets eaten. Baked into a pie and devoured (we can only assume) by other wolves who are last seen cutting into the large steaming dessert. Is it a somewhat macabre ending to a somewhat macabre tale? Most certainly. Kelly and Tincknell have no qualms about foreshadowing Glenda and Horace's potential fate left right and center. Though they cannot, sharp eyed readers will see the flit of a wolfy tail disappear out of one picture or view the two charming guests through far reaching binoculars. Hunter is never seen clearly front and center, but you have no difficulty figuring out what he's up to. The illustrations are digitally created, which may strike the viewer as odd on first glance. Though the pictures are beautiful, they seem like nothing so much as thick gouache or possibly acrylic paints. There's nothing to suggest that these are pictures drawn, "freehand onscreen" in any way. This is for the best. You wouldn't want to read a story of this nature if it looked like it came from the same universe as "Finding Nemo". The story is certainly Brit