Kids loved to read about magic, fantasy and adventure. The Ramion Series Collection perfectly blends the three together to create some truly magical fantasy adventure stories that children will adore. The land of Ramion (buried in the deepest, darkest depths of Kent) is a magical place where anything is possible and very frequently lots of unusual things happen.
The Body Collector is book number fifteen in the Ramion Series Collection by Frank Hinks and is suitable for young readers from age seven and upwards.
Alexander, Benjamin and Julius are three brothers who live in Shoreham, Kent in a valley surrounded by hills and woods. The boys have great imaginations and in the hills surrounding their house, what the boys call Ramion, lives Griselda the Witch, a witch who wants nothing more than to eat the boys. As the boys have been taught how to defeat ghosts and monsters, with the help from their pet rabbit, Scrooey-Looey, and their cat, Snuggle, they are still all in one piece and live their lives happily playing and exploring.
Charlie Stench is The Body Collector, and he is not a nice man. He roams the forest of Ramion collecting bodies, preserving them from decay and turning the heads into evil floating skulls that he sells on the market. Although some are kept in the grounds of his mansion: Stench Manor.
Griselda the Witch is in possession of one of Charlie’s floating skulls, this skull is called Boris. Unfortunately, something went wrong with Boris; he does not possess evil powers and cannot do evil things. Boris is quite happy to do tricks and scare people but refuses to fry them as Griselda wants.
Griselda’s patience has worn thin with Boris, so she replaces him with five very evil mini skulls. As these skulls are evil, they do evil things and eventually capture Griselda and her guards, the three dim and daft dwarves. Boris comes to her rescue but on the condition that she helps him get his body back from The Body Collector. Griselda is not only evil, but she is also very cunning and keeps her fingers crossed (as all evil witches do) as she promises to help Boris. She has other plans for Boris.
When Benjamin runs away and gets stuck in The Body Collector’s house, Alexander, Julius and Snuggle must rescue him with the help of a magical plant sent from the Gardener before he can be turned in to Charlie’s next floating skull. And before Griselda can make him her next meal.
Overall, The Body Collector is a delightful children’s fantasy adventure. The book is not as dark and terrifying as the title might suggest. The title will grab the attention of any young reader and the content within its pages will keep their attention right to the end.
This book has everything that young children want; it is full of adventure loving children, witches, monsters and magic and floating skulls including one that just wants his body back.
The Body Collector is a very well written, exciting, fun and engaging story. It is delightfully entertaining with thirty-five full page fun illustrations that bring the story alive in full glorious colour.
The short chapters make it an excellent and easy read for young children as well as adults that love a good story. It would also make a great story for bedtime reading, whether that is the children reading it themselves, you reading it to children or you read it together.
A fun and exciting read.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £12.99 (Hardback) / £8.99 (Paperback)
Available to buy from Amazon here.
