This children’s story was hilarious, impactful, and thematically strong! Front of the line for teachers of young children.

The Hair Hand is meant to be for middle-grade readers, however, I think any age would enjoy reading it. I definitely did.

It's a gothic adventure with magical elements about friendship in unlikely places. Very well written and easy to follow.

A fun and highly original story full of magic and adventure,with wonderful characters. It may be aimed at children but this adult thoroughly enjoyed it :)

This is a YA fantasy book, with a young boy of 11 called Septimus as our hero. He lives with his two horrible parents, who tell him one day that his Uncle has died (whom he has never heard of before), and has left him something which he needs to go and collect.

It's a long journey, and one he is to do on his own. That's the type of parents he has.

I found this book to be quite different. Instead of telling the story of his journey to his Uncle's and back again, it tells us about people.

I really liked this as a twist. His adventure is his family, not the journey he undertakes.

The Hairy Hand was published on 19th January 2019, and is available to buy on Amazon and on Waterstones. I've found a link to where you can search for local bookshops, including independent!

I couldn't find a website or any social media for Robin Bennett, so I'm afraid no link for that today!

If you're interested in YA fantasy books, then here's some others I've reviewed:

We hunt the night by Hafsah Faizal 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Brotherhood of Shades by Dawn Finch 🌟🌟🌟

I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Monster Books (the publishers) for this book.

Check out my GoodReads profile to see more reviews!

What a fabulous adventure story.
With the evil Pog parents, an 11 year old boy who needs to activate his magical powers before his 12th birthday and all with the help of “ the hairy hand”
A fun read that keeps you hooked until the very end.
Hoping that this is the 1st in a series of adventures for Sept and his hairy hand

I was hooked as soon as I read the blurb and was hoping something like this would be suitable for my year 2 class. I think this would be better for teenagers or pre teens but I love books like this and think they are for any age. It was well written and compelling.

Quirky and more than a bit mad, this is a story about a young boy, his horrid parents and the hairy hand he inherits from a warlock uncle. This reminded me of the grosser, meaner end of the Roald Dahl cannon if that makes sense, which has never been my favourite bit of Dahl, but if you (or your child!) likes that, then this may well be an excellent choice for them.

Unfortunately, I can't give this book a knowledgeable review; I downloaded it for my son, a boy who under normal circumstances will read anything and everything, then retell it to me in glorious detail. However, he failed to read more than the first few chapters. So on that basis I've given it a middle-of-the-road rating, as clearly it was initially interesting, but didn't grip him sufficiently to continue.

A very sweet little fable with a lot of humour. I'm sure kids will enjoy reading The Hairy Hand. The main character is very sweet, particularly his devotion to staying with his horrible parents and the Hand is a delightful magical creature. A little over the top in some of the punishment (heavy on the vomit and toilet humour) but I can see kids liking that!

An extremely hairy hand, a main character called Septimus Plog...and fantastic magic!.....what more is there to like?? A great story to read with the kids :-)

Fun and very strange, this story was really funny and very different from a lot of the books out at the moment for kids this age.

I loved this book, eventually. Took a while to get into but stuck at it & grateful for it. Can't wait to read this to my children.

I absolutely loved this book and will be treating Minishine to a copy when she’s a few years older!

Sept, our main character, is a good-hearted boy living a lonely life in an excessively cruel and mean-spirited village/family. Until the day he finds out that there really is a reason why he is different from those around him… special even. And he also meets a very unusual friend.

This is a traditional middle-grade fantasy adventure, with the Chosen One discovering his gifts and starting out on a path to set wrongs right. It stands out due to the humour and the neat touches of characterisation which really have you rooting for Sept and Hand, and loathing almost everyone else (think The Twits or other Roald Dahl-esque romps). I particularly liked, even as I didn’t always understand, Sept’s iron-willed loyalty to family and to what he perceives as the right moral path, no matter what it costs him in terms of his own happiness. He really is a great role model for positive thinking and finding the best in people!

The plot was quirky and fun, and often surprised me (in a good way) with the direction it took, especially at the climax. I really hope the author has a whole series planned for Sept because I would love to know what happens next!

If you are aged 8-adult and like Harry Potter with a touch more humour, or Roald Dahl with slightly less chaos, then this is the perfect book for you!



The main problem with Nowhere was that nothing nice ever happened. People in it just went on being selfish and stupid, day after day, after day…

He searched out his reflection in a dirty shop window. A small boy, with fair hair and narrow features gazed back unhappily. Who was he and why didn’t he fit in?

– Robin Bennett, The Hairy Hand

Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog

Took a little getting in to but when i did there were so many laugh out loud moments. This is definitely the kind of book i would read to my future kids, magical, funny and with an optimistic outcome and good moral lessons without being preachy. The characters are fantastic and reminiscent of rohald dahl overall great fun for kids as well as big kids who refuse to grow old and boring

Great synopsis, interesting read, really makes you think. Appeals to many. Definitely recommend you try it! So glad I did!

A decent yarn (although I’m not entirely sure what age group this is aimed at). Sept and the Hand are an interesting duo, and the action / adventure was entertaining.

This is an adorable book with an intriguing story similar to Poe's "The Monkey's Paw" in its magical appendage. Sept (short for Septimus) is a young boy growing up in a dreary and depressing town with horrible parents who are sneekers (people who steal things from others. His mother is particularly loud, disgusting and mean and his father puts up with her abuse and tries to smooth over her crude rudeness at times. A letter come announcing the death of Sept's uncle and he is sent off on a journey to the uncle's house on the coast by himself. Sept has a remarkably good attitude despite his upbringing and her manages to cross the forests and deserts to get there.
Once there his Uncle's spirit tells him he must choose 3 things from the house and then leave. Among the things he takes is a chest which he hopes has some treasure in it (since that is what his parents ordered him to bring back. When he gets back home, his parents are not pleased with his choices especially when they force open the chest and find what looks to be the cut of hand of some hairy animal. The hand turns out to have magical powers and Sept becomes friends with it. The resulting abuse and hilarity that Sept's parents ask of the hairy hand develop more and more problems for Sept.
This is truly a charming story!

I've just finished the hairy band and I loved it, I know it's not aimed at 46 year olds but the tale of Sept and his horrible parents was very reminiscent of Roald Dahl and David Walliams novels and I think it works for all ages, it's quite dark in places but an entertaining read and I look toward to more adventures of Sept.

This is a lovely coming of age story for Sept, he has no clue who he is except he can read and no one else in the village can.

His parents hate him and treat him like a servant and he lives in a miserable village called Nowhere.

His Uncle dies and gives him a quest to find 3 items of value. Somehow he picks the Hand. An ancient Llarmara hand chained inside a box. His mother is unimpressed and threatens to use a black book on him.

Sept has to unravel the mysteries surrounding his dead Uncle, the black book, the Hairy Hand and find out how his destiny is linked to them all before his 12th birthday or something terrible will happen. Follow his journey into knowledge and found out what horrors await.

Simply written and ideal for a good reader only because the speech is phonetically written and might challenge a less confident reader. Also one for joint reading as it's full of opportunities to play with character voices.

Looking forward to a new series of magical tales for middle school readers.

I was given the novel free by netgalley.com for my fair and honest review.

Septimus Plog is the used and abused son of Mr and Mrs Plog. The family live in a miserable village of Nowhere where everyone is just out for themselves. 11 year-old Septimus alone seems to have a different view of life from those around him and by some miracle is the only person in the village who can read.
His life changes when he receives an inheritance from a uncle he has never met.
Despite the silly names (Plog being one of many) which abound in this book and which will probably appeal to the intended readership, I found myself wanting to know what happens to Septimus and whether or not he would escape from the miserable life he finds himself in. The author has great fun inventing some ridiculous situations for his characters which I think maturing readers in KS2 (9-11 year olds) which find very funny.