The Traveling Restaurant

Jasper lives in a kind of invented kingdom with his mother, Lady Helen, and his father, a scientist. The tyrannical ruler of the kingdom, Lady Gall, one of the book's great, hideous inventions, is like a cross between the bad fairy and Queen Elizabeth I, when she was getting really old. Lady Gall has the kingdom in her thrall and Jasper's father has to work in a laboratory all day making something called 'beauteen', which is a kind of botox which gets injected into Lady Gall. Some cataclysm has happened - the Great Accident - and at that time, something was taken out of the world, and we realise after a while that it was 'magic' - but they're never allowed to say it.

Jasper's a classic fairytale character, the benighted, seemingly stupid, 'foolish boy', who's probably actually going to be the handsome prince at the end - and you sort of know, because of the convention, what's going to happen in the end.

It's the most wonderful, fantastical voyage. Jasper meets up with these people on this ship called The Travelling Restaurant, and the adventures happen. There's this wonderful map at the beginning drawn by Sam Broad (and all great books, Jack Lasenby once said, should have maps or glossaries), to follow where Jasper's going, there's heaps of food in it. It's got everything you've ever wanted from a fantastical children's tale; very well written, funny, and at the heart of it is this beautiful relationship between Jasper and his sister, Sybilla, who he has to try and find because she's been kidnapped.

I just absolutely loved it. I can't recommend it more highly. Fantastic.-Kate De Goldi, Good Morning, March 2011

This is a very special book. Gecko Press publishes only two or three local books each year and this is one of them. I had an advance reading copy a few weeks ago and I've been raving about the book ever since, so that I have quite a few advance orders for it. It's written by Barbara Else, who has six adult novels and two previous children's novels to her name, and for me it created a frisson of excitement I haven't felt about a novel with magic at its centre since the first Harry Potter book entranced me with its cleverness, characterisation, values and humour. It has the wonderful characteristic I love of being about magic, and therefore fantastic, but incredibly grounded in humanity. There's a wickedly, wackily wonderful villain, Lady Gall, who has persuaded people with various propoganda techniques all too readily recognisable, that she should be the "provisional monarch," and she smiles sweetly until anyone crosses her, or even approaches that point, at which affront she ruthlessly provides evidence that such temerity will not be tolerated. I loved the quirkiness of the storytelling, the tantalising slow revelation of what's going on, the child-centred imagery which makes it a very visual read, and the values. It's funny, gentle and beautifully written, and I'm not going to write about the plot at all, since that slow revelation is an important part of the reading experience. I also loved the music, the food, the wit, the warmth, well, all of it really. After I'd raved to a few people I thought I'd better check myself and reread, a luxury I don't often have, and I enjoyed it just as much on a second reading. Suitable for good readers of 8+, but probably most suitable for intermediate age and up. Enjoy.--Story Time Books for Kids, April 2011