“Goth Girl and the Wuthering Fright”, by Chris Riddell

Chris Riddell never fails to entertain.  He is always firm in producing quality children’s books with superb Illustrations and stories that are well-rounded and above all else, interesting. 

There is no true originality in fiction, of course; all stories have been told before, after all. It is how you tell the story that matters. Riddell seems all too aware of this fact, as the characters surrounding the eponymous Goth Girl, in this installment of the series (there are two more books featuring the same character, all highly recommended) are thinly-disguised, famous writers that, I venture at guessing, Riddell idolizes. 

The true beauty of “Goth Girl” lies in the meticulous mouth-watering illustrations -Riddell is an illustrator first and foremost- and the writing comes a distant second, since the plot and advancement of any kind of action is slow and in the end, unimportant. One gets so caught up -and sometimes even lost- in trying to take in all the characters’ clever names and quirky, elaborate characteristics -supported by the illustration at every step- that there is very little space left to squeeze in the actual story. 

Now, do I, as a reader, mind this slight inconvenience? Ultimately, I do not. “Goth Girl and the Wuthering Fright” fulfils the most important requirements (in my opinion) for a children’s book: it is informative, imagination-expanding and fun. 

As an added bonus, Riddell’s use of the English language is a joy to read; I cannot explain it exactly, but his sentences are rhythmic in their construction, by which I mean that if they were to be translated into music, they would surely hold perfect pitch. 
Second added bonus, in this book in particular, is the appearance of several adorable dogs, guaranteed to make young readers squeal with delight at their wrinkly and fluffy pooch-faces and laugh-out-loud at their preposterous, made-up breed names.