The Legend of Ghastly Jack Crowheart

by Loretta Schauer

For Lil, life at the Squawking Mackerel inn couldn’t be more miserable. She's tasked with the sloppiest, grottiest jobs and picked on at every turn. Her only friend is Augustus Scratchy, a cantankerous crow with a habit of stealing. When the dread villain Rotten Bob Hatchet and his gang of cut-throat highwaymen begin attacking travellers on the road, things get really dire.

Joining forces with a new servant boy, Ned, and armed with the contents of the inn’s lost property cupboard, a pocket full of revolting dumplings and some knicker elastic, Lil comes up with a plot to scare off Rotten Bob. And so the legend of Ghastly Jack Crowheart the Demon Highwayman is born!

Dangerous highwaymen, furious crows, ludicrous underwear, and a turnip apocalypse - stand and deliver!

Genres: Middle Grade, Fiction

Paperback

Published October 5, 2023

Reviews

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a fun middle grade novel with plenty of gross out humour for kids with strong stomachs (which is most of them to be fair!). Plenty of laugh out loud, slapstick moments and a great story about making friends and supporting each other too. I loved the main protagonist’s crow ‘pet’ , so much avian, puckish character!

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun story for readers of all ages! Adults and children alike will enjoy this clever, funny and unique tale. Loretta Schauer has always been my favourite illustrator, but this book showcases her amazing creativity and talent in another way. More please!

[Sabrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny and with great characters

[Kitchen Sink Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don’t for one moment be fooled by the idea of a legend not being real. After all legends aren’t created out of nowhere or from the imagination, they are based on stories, truths and events that people have experienced. Loretta Schauer knows a legend and has chosen to share it with us and I for one am glad, this is a legend we all need to know about so that we can be prepared if we ever happen to hear anyone talk of Ghastly Jack Crowheart or we ever meet him. Now, of course this is a legend which means it is quite an old story, there may not be anyone around who knew Jack personally. But Loretta Schauer has kindly illustrated her story, so we have some additional details to support us in the event… Would you like to know a little more about The Legend of Ghastly Jack Crowheart?

First of all, you need to come with me to the village of Eggy Bottom of which there is a
truthful map included in the front of the book. Please take notice of the ill-situated coaching-inn The Squawking Mackerel, the Duelling Ground, Crow Tree, and Rotten Bob’s Camp. Right, now you are acquainted let’s meet Lil. Lil lives in Eggy Bottom and works at the Squawking Mackerel Inn, all in all her life is pretty miserable. She is always given the sloppy, grotty jobs and she has only one friend. The crow Scratchy. I think we should feel a little sorry for her, don’t you? But life is about to take a turn for the more exciting. Guests staying at the Inn are being robbed by a gang of wicked highwaymen and they aren’t able to pay their bills as a result. Lil is going to lose customers at this rate, so she needs to hatch a plan, not just any plan though, a cunning one that is going to scare off the villainous thieves. What about if she creates a legend. A highway man that no-one will dare to cross, the traditional type who demands his victims Stand and Deliver. Will the legend of Ghastly Jack Crowheart, demon highway man be enough to help her save the day?