There can be little doubt that Helen Cresswell has, in the galloping Bagthorpe Saga, created one of the most memorable casts of characters in children¹s fiction and in the sixth book in the series--Haunted Bagthorpes--she allows the delightful, accident-prone and totally bonkers Bagthorpes free reign as they descend on the peaceful Welsh village of Llosilli for their holiday.

As they bound into the lives of the ordinary village folk like lolloping Labrador puppies, all hell inevitably breaks loose, leaving the increasingly world-weary local constabulary tired, grumpy and at a total loss. Helen Cresswell has created in the Bagthorpes a family with such comic potential that is impossible to forget them and with the comedy coming as much from the well-drawn characters as from the situations they find themselves in, Cresswell is unrelenting in her quest to choke every last ounce of laughter from the bellies of her readers. --Susan Harrison