The Creakers

by Tom Fletcher

The darkly magical new story about the monsters under the bed, from bestselling author of The Christmasaurus, Tom Fletcher.
What silently waits in the shadows at night? What's under your bed, keeping just out of sight?

Do you ever hear strange, creaking noises at night? Ever wonder what makes those noises?
Lucy Dungston always did.
Until, one morning, Lucy discovers that all the grown-ups have disappeared - as if into thin air. Chaos descends as the children in Lucy's town run riot. It's mayhem. It's madness. To most kids, it's amazing!
But Lucy wants to find out the truth. Lucy lost her dad not long ago, and she's determined not to lose her mum too. She's going to get her back - and nothing is going to stop her . . .
. . . except maybe the Creakers.

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Childrens, Fiction, Adventure, Audiobook, Mystery

368 pages, Hardcover

First published October 5, 2017

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Tom Fletcher is one of the UK's most popular children's authors. Tom's books have been translated into 41 languages and to date he has sold over 6 million copies of his books in the UK alone, and 10 million globally.

The Christmasaurus was the biggest debut children's novel of 2016 and was shortlisted for a British Book Award. Since then, Tom has published several more chart-topping children's novels, including The Christmasaurus and the Naughty List, The Creakers and the instant number-one bestseller The Danger Gang.

For younger readers, Tom writes the incredibly successful Who's in Your Book? picture-book series and is one half of the author duo behind the Dinosaur that Pooped picture-book series with bandmate Dougie Poynter.

For older readers, Tom co-authors the Eve of Man series with his wife, Giovanna Fletcher.

As well as his career as an author, Tom is also a founding member of the Brit Award-winning band McFly, which has sold over 10 million records worldwide.

Reviews

[Sandra (LadyGrey Reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now it's not very nice to use little girls as live bait to catch monsters, but, if you do ever have to, then it's always best to use an annoying little sprog like Ella, just in case they do actually end up getting snatched.

One morning, Lucy wakes up to find that all the grown-ups in the world have gone missing.
Terrific! is what all the other kids in town seem to think.
But Lucy wonders why. And how. And when. Soon, she discovers that there are creatures appearing in her room at night - and wonders if they are perhaps responsible for taking the grown-ups. These creatures? They are the Creakers.

Just like The Christmasaurus, this novel is a fun and entertaining children's novel that is sure to make many kids all over the world peek under their beds in search for the Creakers themselves. Lucy reminds me a lot of myself when I was that age, although I do believe she's a tad bit braver than me, and the side characters that also show up are equally entertaining. I did laugh out loud when two kids named Buzz and Buddy had taken their dad's car out for a drive (if you didn't know, Buzz and Buddy are Tom Fletcher's kids... and now you know what he suspects they would do if him and his wife ever disappeared) - and you'll also, briefly, meet the kids from The Christmasaurus, so the stories seem to be set in the same universe. Sort of.

I did feel that it was a bit odd that only Lucy and her friend Norman seemed to be responsible kids. I'm quite sure there would be others as well - and it would have been interesting to see their take on how to solve the problem. I also would have liked a bit more mystery regarding Lucy's father. I felt like I solved that way too soon - but that might be because I'm an adult and, well, this is a children's story.

I do highly recommend you guys listen to the audio book for this, as Tom reads bits and pieces himself, adding warnings before scary chapters and such, which is really fun!

[Kerri · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

Incredibly fun, well written, funny, with brilliant characters and absolutely wonderful illustrations.

[Floor tussendeboeken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful book for the age of 8+
It's quite a chunker, but the font is big and it has a lot of illustrations, so don't be intimidated by the size!

The most fun part of it is that the author also interacts with the main character Lucy. He acts as the narrator of the story. Hilarious sometimes!

[Marieke Leest · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spannend kinderboek en een beetje eng ook voor de doelgroep maar ook heel grappig en er staan mooie tekeningen in. Als je kind niet bang is van monsters onder het bed, zeker een aanrader.

[Stanislav Lozanov · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish that book was translated into Bulgarian. A lot of kids would enjoy it.

[Willemijn jufwillemijnopallstars · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lucy Modderman is geen standaard meisje, maar wel een heldin! In het boek De Knerpers neemt ze de leiderrol op zich, ook zorgt ze ervoor dat alles weer goed komt, toch?! Op een dag wordt Lucy wakker, dan komt ze erachter dat haar moeder verdwenen is. Een paar maanden geleden was haar vader ook al zomaar verdwenen. Hoe is het mogelijk?

’s Nachts ziet Lucy 4 paar ogen in haar kamer. Dit zijn de Knerpers! Ze zijn een beetje raar, maar ook wel weer heel leuk! Ontdek het zelf in dit prachtige verhaal.

De illustraties van Shane Devries zijn ook geweldig en een echte toevoeging aan het boek. De hele Redno wereld is ook prachtig bedacht! Ook een dikke shoutout naar de vertaler Lidwien Biekmann. De namen van de karakters zijn geweldig en alles is zo goed vertaald naar het Nederlands. Je hebt helemaal niet door dat het oorspronkelijk een Engels verhaal is. Het meest heb ik gelachen om de naam Irry Tandstra, kom er zelf maar achter of ze ook irritant is 😉

Het verhaal wordt goed opgebouwd en het lukt Lucy niet in een keer om de volwassenen te vinden en terug te halen. Dat vind ik zeer sterk aan dit boek. Vaak krijgen hoofdpersonen van kinderboeken het snel voor elkaar, maar Lucy moet echt moeite doen.

Dit boek in drie woorden: avontuur, monsters en familieboek. Het is zeker een groot avontuur, er komen veel monsters in voor (misschien verstandig om je kind dit niet alleen in bed te laten lezen), en het is ook echt wel een familieboek: heel leuk om samen te lezen. Het is wel en dik boek, 350 pagina’s, maar van elke pagina kan worden genoten!

Ik kreeg dit boek van Billy Bones en heb het ook al cadeau gedaan aan iemand. Echt een aanrader, 5 sterren van mij.

[Zuzana Štelbaská · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prvé prekvapko je hneď na obálke - ten chlapček je dievčatko :) ale inak výborná hrdinka, bude sa páčiť aj chlapcom, ktorí momentálne ťahajú v knižných hrdinoch za kratší koniec. Autor vyťažil maximum z čudných zvukov, ktoré sa ozývajú v každom dome a byte a dal im zmysel v podobe Vrzgošov. Vďaka väčšiemu písmu je príbeh vhodný pre čitateľov 7+, má hororové prvky, množstvo ilustrácií a divoký spád, dynamický vývoj, nečakané zvraty a vtipné komentáre medzi kapitolami od samotného autora. Aj keby knihu čítali sami, práve vďaka nim nebudú mať pocit samoty a možno im to trochu pomôže vyrovnať sa so strachom, ktorý môžu niektoré pasáže vyvolať. Je to výborné čítanie plné fantázie, v ktorom prím hrajú deti, ich rozhodnutia bez vplyvu dospelých, kamarátstvo medzi nimi, súdržnosť a po úvodnom nadšení, kedy zmiznú zo sveta všetci dospelí, precitnutie a snaha všetko napraviť, dojímavá záchrana ich rodičov. Ak doteraz napríklad čítali len komiksy, treba im to ponúknuť ako ďalšiu fázu, kapitoly sú krátke a textu je vďaka bohatstvu obrázkov pomenej.

[Mehsi · Rating 5 out of 5]

"What silently waits in the shadows at night? What's under your bed, keeping just out of sight?"

Squee, this was just such a fun, exciting, delightful book!

The story starts off with a bang, our MC wakes up to find that her mom has disappeared! But she quickly finds out that it is not just her mom, it is all the adults in town! The kids are at first quite afraid and want their moms/dads/family members, but then they find a note (so obvious, but hey they are kids) and they get to celebrating their new freedom! No parents mean they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, and that they can make all their dreams come true (like the little kid who put sharks into the swimming pool, or the kids who decided that trampolines would be a good idea as transport). But sadly, they also find out that food is quickly depleting, and that the fun is not as fun the next day.

Lucy quickly takes a leader role, though she is not too happy about it. But she is the chosen one in this story. The one to figure out what to do. The one to get the adults back. I quite liked Lucy, she was strong and brave and smart, but also showed that she was worried, that she was afraid (which I would also be, you don't know if the adults are safe and if you will ever see them back, not to mention the Creakers were pretty creepy). Yet, she doesn't let that stand in her way. And thankfully she is also not alone in her quest, she has Norman (and oh yes, annoying Ella) who help her out, or at least try to help out.

Norman was a pretty OK character, yes, I found him slightly annoying with his constant scout stuff, but I still liked how he was, along with Lucy, one of the kids who didn't go full crazy with all the freedom.

Ella? I just disliked her. I wouldn't have minded if she had been taken by the monsters and never was returned. Bleh.

Woleb, or should we just call it Below, was a fun and interesting place. Sure, also disgusting as hell, but eh. :P I liked the way it worked, how it hid stuff and randomly made new place and hallways. I wasn't surprised at where the adults resided that is a pretty fitting place, plus that way they won't be able to resist much.

I have to say that I am kind of agreeing with The Creakers. Yes, they did things the wrong way and they were creepy/scary, but they had their reasons. If only that had found another way to communicate and let the humans know about that.

The twist at the end with who the King was, boy, I hadn't seen that coming! Of course I could have suspected it, but I was so engrossed in the story that I missed the hints to it. Now that I look back (after reading) I can see there were hints to the identity of the King. I am definitely delighted with how the author managed to make the reveal fun and interesting.

Sure, I wasn't happy with the mom. Really, you believe your hubby would just get up and leave? Without taking anything with him? Leaving his food/drink on the table? I would definitely have a bit more trust in my hubby if he would suddenly disappear without a hint.

The ending was great, I just loved what Lucy's plan was! Everyone can be happy now. *cheers*

Plus points to the narrator and him butting in at times. I just adore a good narrator. <3

Then there are illustrations all over the book, and boy, the style is just wonderful and fun. I have to keep an eye on this illustrator, I want to see more of their work.

I could probably talk a bit longer about the book, but I think I mentioned all the important bits! I would recommend this book to all looking for a fun monster and garbage-filled book!

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/

[Ellie (bookmadbarlow) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy Tom Fletchers writing and this was no exception. I loved the little nods to characters in his other books and the foreshadowing had me giggling away.
Lucy wakes up one day and her mother has vanished, on going outside she discovers that in fact all of the grownups have vanished too.
This is fun at first, but when children are free to run wild someone needs to step up, an unlikely hero and thats when Lucy discovers the Creakers under her bed.
This was a fun story, about waste and how it can be better disposed of, but also of friendships and working together as a team.

[Lire-une-passion · Rating 4 out of 5]

"En résumé, comme pour son premier roman, j'ai passé un bon moment de lecture. Ici, l'auteur décide de mettre en avant l'une des peurs des enfants (les monstres sous le lit) et d'en donner une version beaucoup plus rigolote. Les illustrations qui accompagnent le récit, en plus d'être magnifiques, permettent d'entrer encore plus dans l'histoire et de s'attacher à l'intrigue. Bref, vivement le prochain !"

http://lire-une-passion.weebly.com/fa...

[Agne · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was adorabe, fun and very engaging story. I can just imagine how fun it would be to read for a kid. The story was well written, ilustrations are absolutely wonderful, it was fun and exciting. I have never read any book by Tom Fletcher, but I might be checing out more of his middle grade books.

[Mikayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it as always Tom Fletcher writes amazing children's books.

[Meredith Mara · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 stars :) Such a cute, magical and creepy middle-grade adventure read.

[Reelika Raimet · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://raamaturiiulike.wordpress.com...

[Gethin · Rating 5 out of 5]

We started it at the beginning of the summer holidays and didn't read it much and then read the Christmasaurs also by Tom Fletcher. I really enjoyed this book and is lots of fun to read! I highly recommend this book to everyone! Best Book of the year so far! #1 🤣🏆🥇

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book that the kids and I really enjoyed. The audiobook version also has songs!

[Clara Saltitona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Um livro muito bonito sobre o poder da amizade e que nos ensina que podemos ser todos diferentes, mas também temos os mesmos direitos.🥹🥹🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰😍🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny and scary at the same time!

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an enjoyable kids books. Really thought out world. Great book to just transport you from normal life!

[Meda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gera!

[Tea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leste "Knirkerne" på norsk sammen med sønnen min på 7 år. Han ELSKET den, og jeg koste meg også med den. Både morsom og passe spennende!

[Dinnu Reads Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute children's book with great illustrations! 😉

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

This was an adorable story about Monsters under bed and discovering what happens while you sleep.

We begin and the story was up and running. We are introduced to Lucy and learn about her family circumstances. Just her and her Mom since her Dad left. Lucy wakes up one morning and her Mom is gone; and not just her Mom but all the adults.

Lucy becomes the leader and tries to discover why the parents left while helping all the children. Enter The Creakers.....

This was an endearing story about making new friends, having faith in yourself, and doing what was right.

Tom Fletcher has a way to tell the story without speaking down to children. If I had a niece or nephew, at the correct age, I would like to read this aloud as it would be a very theatrical and funny book.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read with my year 2 class over Autumn term. They absolutely loved it, hooked from start to finish 😁

[Veronique Pauwels · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dit boek is magisch, eenmaal je het boek in je handen hebt, wil je er aan beginnen. De titel gaat in het zonlicht ophelderen. De glinsteringen die je ziet, gaan gewoon mee in de zaklamp, die Lucy in haar handen heeft.
Maar die glinsteringen draaien niet alleen door in de kaft. Eenmaal je in het boek zit, snap je wel waar dat stof voor dient, maar haast je zodat jij er niet door beneveld geraakt.
Het boek is geïllustreerd door Shane Devries. Prachtige potloodtekeningen vullen dit prachtige boekje.
Het verhaal zelf is er eentje met een missie. Ik denk dat veel kinderen er zich zullen in herkennen en dat ze eigenlijk wel allemaal een Lucy willen zijn. Ze zullen het net zoals Irry, Klaartje, Toby, ….het eerst superleuk vinden om niet op de vingers getikt te worden door een volwassene, niet naar school hoeven te gaan, doen waar ze zin in hebben, maar uiteindelijk toch door hebben dat ze niet zonder hun ouders kunnen.
Wat is er eigenlijk met die ouders gebeurd? Lucy is de enige die samen met Kees op zoek gaat naar hen. Kees die eigenlijk geen vrienden heeft, wordt gaandeweg in het verhaal een goeie vriend van Lucy.
Hopelijk heb je lef om dit boekje te lezen, ben je niet bang voor de ogen die loeren onder je bed, maar durf je net als Lucy de uitdaging aan, om op zoek te gaan waar de mama’ s en papa’s zijn.

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

I only read this book because my mum bought it for me, I actually can't stand books that celebrities throw their names to without actually writing anything or are heavily edited. With Tom though, I've seen him read his other books and I genuinely think he wrote his other books as he's so passionate about them, so I thought this book may be different to other recent celeb releases.
I was wrong. There is a good chance he did write it himself though as it's terrible! it reads like the books I used to write when I was at school with embarrassing smilies and every stereotype you can imagine. The book is only saved by Shane Devries' gorgeous illustrations, but all-in-all I can only see that the reason for the high ratings on goodreads is because of the mcfly fans, rather than because the book is any good. I think if the book did not have Tom's name attached then people would not have bothered with it.

[Izzy Dorrance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edit: SBC 3 (An Adventure Story) The children end up going on an adventure under their beds. The book follows the structure of an adventure story and contains the key features. I would use it in the classroom as an example of an adventure story.

I really enjoyed reading this book because it has a great overall message in the story. ‘Its okay to be different’ This really comes across in the book and I like the added touch at the end (The author, Tom Fletcher, wrote a song to go with the book called Different and there are the lyrics and a QR code to hear him sing it).

I also really liked the way the story was written. Throughout the book (often in italics) we’d have the author's own thoughts on what was going on. This really added to the book and made me want to continue reading on because it built up the suspension more.

Lastly, the book has lots of great illustration which add to the story.

I’d definitely recommend this book.

[Jonathan Thornton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good idea but not well executed

I’ll never understand why children’s authors can’t write children well. Almost every children’s book I read these days sound utterly unrealistic and like no child ever. I’m a primary school teacher so I know what kids sound like.

This book had a good premise, and was going reasonably well (child characters aside), but the ending was ridiculous (spoiler: it involves a fleet of helicopters and a giant drill). Children are not stupid. They are fine with ghosts and monsters and aliens, so by all means write those as much as you want. But when it comes to the real-life stuff, it needs to be realistic. And none of the real-life stuff in this book was remotely believable, which ruins the whole thing.

[Charlotte (The Writers' Crown) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderful writing again from Tom Fletcher. I loved this story. Creepy, funny, and magical. The main character is very inspiring. From standing up for what she believes in to making friends with lonely children. She's certainly a character I would want my future children to read about! I really loved that the book had an underlying message of the importance and usefulness of recycling and being sustainable with our waste. It really is an all-round excellent book for young readers (and the Creakers are very cute!).

[Helin Puksand · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ühel hommikul ärkavad lapsed üles ja avastavad, et Whiffingtoni linnas ei ole enam ühtki täiskasvanut. Enam ei pea koristama ega koolis käima, lapsed hakkavad elama nii, nagu neile meeldib. Õnneks säilitab Lucy kaine mõistuse ja hakkab asja uurima. Ta avastab, et voodi all on imelikud elukad - kriiksujad. Koos Normani ja Elllaga hakkavad nad tegutsema, et täiskasvanuid tagasi saada. Kes need kriiksujad on ja mis on nende eesmärk, saab teada muidugi siis, kui raamatut loed.
Raamat paneb mõtlema keskkonna hoidmise ja teistega arvestamise üle.