This really twinkles with fun, a truly Dahl inspired romp of a book which will really appeal to young independent readers, expanding vocabs with an impressive array of description that hooks the reader in. Between dastardly villains, frankly horrid adults and violence, to unidentifiable yet relatable bogus Government agencies, the orphans Tig, Stef and Herc had me rooting for them from the beginning as they fight to keep their freedom. The cheeky and quirky illustrations continue the vibe and in whole this is a clever and joyful read for deserving young readers.

Great read. Something a bit different that I wouldn’t normally read. Will definitely pass on to the children.

The Ophans of St Halibut’s is the delightfully madcap story of three orphans Stef, Tig and Herc (plus Pamela the goat), who suddenly find themselves all alone after a ‘Happy Accident’ leaves them matron-less. Once they have safely buried Miss Happyday (and all their old textbooks) in the vegetable patch, they enjoy their newfound freedom, no longer having to worry about cleaning, spelling or grammar. That is until they get a letter from DEATH (the Department for Education, Assimilation, Training and Health) about an upcoming inspection which threatens to unravel this joyful existence. Can Tig, Herc and Stef pull the wool over all the adults’ eyes or will it all go horribly wrong? Once the inspector arrives, more madness ensues in this fast paced, hilarious and often disgusting tale.

Sophie Wills’ debut is sure to be a hit with middle-grade readers and the clever names and dark humour will keep adults entertained. It is full of brilliant characters and great twists which will keep young readers hooked and laughing until the end. The excellent illustrations by David Tazzyman also make this unlikely adventure even more memorable.

A fabulously dark book laced with humour. I adored the characters and the blend of personalities captured within this book. Each chapter leaves you needing to know what happens next. Twists, turns and excitement and woven through this brilliantly sinister tale. A great addition to any pre-teen’s book shelf.

Plucky orphans overcoming evil organisations and villainous orphanage owners, lashings of dark humour, the most disgusting baked goods ever written about, and a cantankerous goat. What more could you ask for in a book??
Perfect for fans of Dahl and Snicket, or anyone who likes their books with the gruesome bits left in :D

I loved this so much! Children who love Roald Dahl, will absolutely soak this one up.

I’ve always said that stories about orphans sticking it to evil adults is a sure fire winner for me, and the adults are really evil in this book....and the orphans are epic! Especially Herc...(love that kid!!)

Wonderful! Could not put it down! A future classic

My thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Books for the advance copy

Oh my goodness, this book is an absolute treat for Middle Grade readers (and anyone with a pulse and a sense of humour!) Full of deliciously devious and wonderfully winsome characters, I was hooked from chapter 1.

Author Sophie Wills throws all manner of mayhem at Tig, Stef and Herc - the three remaining orphans of St Halibut’s Home for Waifs and Strays - who want nothing more than to be left to their own devices. They certainly don’t want to be drawn into anything involving the terrifying Ainderby Myers and his Mending House, or the DEATH Inspectors. Nevertheless, these enterprising orphans manage to overcome an onslaught of bad luck with their...ahem...cunning plans - and, of course, by ‘overcome’ I mean dig themselves into an even deeper hole - sometimes literally.

David Tazzyman’s illustrations capture the hilarity of the mishaps in his signature style.
A Must Read with a word of warning. - Watch out for Pamela!

Oh this book is the first for a while to make me actually laugh out loud. The easy mannered black humour will be appealing to both children and any adults reading this aloud. For fans of Roald Dahl and David Williams this is an absolute must for the bookshelf. The plot and characters are all formed really well with a very accessible easy style. The illustrations by the wonderful David Tazzyman are just perfect. An absolutely brilliant read.

My thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

This story was an incredibly fast read and I enjoyed every second. It was a black comedy all throughout, with moments of absolute horror turned into hilarity. I loved the little nods to real life concepts – such as the delightful silliness of fronted adverbials and clear mention of Ofsted in the form of DEATH! A lovely read that I’m sure will engage children and have them laughing at accidental murders!

The Orphans of St Halibut’s is a wonderfully dark, Dickensian comedy of errors with chapter after chapter of hilarious, twisted escapades. Eight-year-old Herc, big sister Tig and their friend, Stef (along with Pamela the goat) are the only orphans left at St Halibut’s Home for Waifs and Strays in the dreary town of Sad Sack. When a fortunate library accident leaves their horrible matron dead, the children manage to keep their new-found freedom a secret from the authorities and live with a general happy lack of rules.

In the midst of their “exuberant chaos”, a letter arrives. DEATH (The Department for Education, Assimilation, Training and Health) is coming to inspect the orphanage. The children must come up with a plan to deceive the inspector and avoid being sent to the Mending House for troublesome children. Can these clever, crafty children pull the wool over the adults’ eyes and hang on to their freedom? Through hilarious mishaps and innocent mischief, Sophie Wills creates a world in which the children certainly don’t need the adults and definitely don’t need mending!

This macabre comedy is enjoyable on so many levels! The matter-of-fact nature of the charming young characters brings a natural comedy to the story. The somewhat gruesome play on words and brilliant description makes each page a joy to read. There are some fantastic baddies who are rumoured to eat children and force them to memorise grammar rules at all hours of the day and night. Despite being an English specialist, I particularly enjoyed the mocking of Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling as well as the DEATH inspectors!

The Orphans of St Halibut’s is a unique take on the Victorian, workhouse, orphan themes that children love to dive into. Readers will thoroughly enjoy it both at home and at school as long as they remember “everything’s fine as long as you add a semi-colon.”

Thank you to Macmillan Children’s Books and NetGalley for this brilliant book!

A hilarious romp, with Dickensian themes, certain to please any middle grade reader. After reading this I will never look at a goat the same way (or drink peppermint tea!).

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s for the e-arc copy to read and review.

This book was so funny and whimsical, it totally gave off a Roald Dahl vibe throughout the book. It has an array of interesting characters such as the three lead children of St.Halibuts who are certainly not your typically written orphans. They are independent and incredibly strong willed children.

I loved how the story unfolded and the twists that you got along the way, there were the villains such as those running the Mended factory and then the Death inspector/s who you fear whilst reading for the children’s sake. The sneaky Arfur who you don’t know to trust or not. Then we meet an array of other interesting characters each who offer something different to the story.

It’s honestly incredibly funny and the fact that it pretty much starts with the death of their matron and it continues as a sort of joke through the story. Each page you turn there is something grotesque spoken about or shown such as Ma Yeasty (yuck) to amuse those younger who will find great pleasure in all the nastiness. Also it has a great amount of whimsical, nonsense that the kids say and do, plus an evil goat called Pamela.

Everything in this book is light and easy to read, it has so much to offer, it’s a really fun read and will take on a journey of sorts with the orphans. It’s certainly a book I think children would enjoy reading so much.

Only three orphans remain at St Halibut’s, the rest having been taken away to the Mending House run by the elusive and sinister Ainderby Myers, for minor infractions of the draconian rules that govern the town of Sad Sack. When a letter arrives with news of a D.E.A.T.H inspection, Tig, Stef and Herc are thrown into a flurry of activity to avoid joining their former friends, for they have a secret to hide...
This novel is full of the kind of slightly gross humour and grotesque characters that will greatly appeal to primary school children. The often slapstick action is depicted so vividly that it unfolded like a film as I read – it would make a great animation – supported by the smattering of line drawings that support the written text. There is plenty of suspense and tension to keep the reader intrigued, but any sense of menace is balanced with humour so that there is never any real doubt that the right characters will come out on top. This is a funny, entertaining book with three main characters that young readers will warm to.

Sophie Wills has created a a humourous story that children will love.
The orphans at St Halibuts have a secret - their matron Miss Happyday is dead, and they are coping remarkably well (especially because why have money hidden away!)
The story has a great cast of villains, most notably the Mending House owner next door and the DEATH inspector(s).
This is a story about children who manage to outwit adults, who manage to look after themselves and prove that children can manage to plan and scheme just as well as the villains.
Kids will love this book, and itis full of witty puns and funny and clever names.
Thanks to Macmillan Children's Books and Netgalley for letting me read this eARC.

Here is a real delight for young readers happy to lose themselves in a richly described fictional, and distinctly weird, setting. The writing can be enjoyed on many levels, with plenty of (not so) sly digs at some of the more Gradgrind features of current literacy teaching together with language that will engage and amuse its readers, although some adults may take exception to the vaguely political flavour of some of the passing remarks. For most children, however, it is a rollicking, fun adventure as a group of children take over the running of their orphanage. As my local expert (an eleven year old grandson with wide reading tastes and a hungry appetite for interesting and entertaining books) explains “As you read the book you really feel like you are part of the adventure that’s being described”. Praise indeed! Another positive feature, which is always the mark of a good read for him, was that the book was polished off in two days - a book he really didn’t want to put down when it was time to turn the light off. Although the book recounted the adventures of the eponymous orphans, and featured clearly unreal and implausible events, it is not a fantasy and it is all strangely coherent. There really is plenty of opportunity for both enjoyment and learning, with some pleasing descriptions and entertaining turns of phrase,

Orphans are often portrayed as hard-done-by, put-upon souls whose miserable lives are turned around through their bravery in stories, at the end of which they are frequently adopted by a wonderful benefactor. Never before have I read a story which involved a bunch of parentless children the like of which I met in this book.

The St Halibuts Home for Waifs and Strays is one of two homes for such children, the other being the wonderfully named St Cod’s Home for Ingrates and Wastrels, in the town of Sad Sack. It is here that we first encounter Herc, who inhabits the orphanage together with sister Tig and friend Stef. When we first meet him, Herc is lying awake reflecting on the theft of a cake he has been given by local baker Ma Yeasty by the establishment’s leader: Miss Happyday.

Deciding that he will steal back his loot, Herc creeps from his dormitory during the night and – alerted by a terrible noise – discovers the body of Miss Happyday buried beneath a pile of books. Rather than summoning adult assistance, the three orphans decide to fend for themselves in quite spectacular fashion until the arrival of an inspector from DEATH (the Department for Education, Assimilation, Training and Health) threatens to put the kibosh on their blissful existence.

At this point, all Hell threatens to break loose as the orphans try to prevent adult interference spoiling their lives which are now free from the stern authority of Miss Happyday who has previously dangled Herc out of a window by his hair. Added in to the mix are a foul-tempered goat called Pamela , the threat of being sent to the’ Mending House’ for correction and the wonderful illustrations of David Tazzyman, familiar to many from the ‘Mr Gum’ books, which together create a wonderfully humorous new take on the classic ‘poor orphans’ story.

There is a plenty of toilet humour and enough references to nose-picking to satisfy the needs of many a child in the grossness stakes but also a great deal of more subtle humour to appeal to adults. Many will recognise Ofsted in DEATH and their push to ‘improve standards’ through some of the titles of the books in the library under which Miss Happyday dies. There is also some very black humour following the arrival of the inspector, the like of which I don’t think I’ve ever encountered in a children’s book before but which I have no doubt will cause great hilarity to readers of all ages.

And it is this ability to appeal to readers of all ages that will make this a popular choice for sharing between children and adults. I’m not sure that it is a book I would read to my class but there are several of my parents who I’m sure would thoroughly enjoy reading this with their offspring. 4 out of 5 stars.

Huge thanks once more to Net Galley for allowing me to read this ahead of its publication expected 1st October this year.