Tuesday 6 August 2013

Book Review: Lakeland Odd Soks!


Sitting under the bed, almost forgotten since 1989, the Lakeland Odd Soks have arrived in the Lake District with a bang!

Originally the concept of Steve Critchley in 1989, the quirky creatures known as the Odd Soks have been brought back to life by his two sons Jake and Erik and now turned into a series of children’s books. 

“Little Lowb is an Odd Sok” is not a sentence I ever thought I would read and it had me hooked from the first sentence on. I should add at this point that “Soks” is not a typo on my part it is how the Odd Soks themselves spell it. What stands these creatures apart is that each of them wears very dashing odd socks. And why not? 

The illustrations are so vibrant and colourful and the words bring these illustrations to life as Mosscrop, Little Lowb, Rufus with his long red hair, Bud and all their friends have adventures around the Lake District. From saving baby owls to dodging lightning and fires and from hunting treasure to eating toasted mushrooms, their adventures are far and wide and you can’t help but get swept up in the imagination of it all. They live in barns, roots and caves so you never know when you might be close to one...

Using real locations is a stroke of genius and will hopefully encourage future generations of children to fall in love with the Lake District as the writers and illustrators of these books clearly have. Most of all though it is the passion of their creators that will undoubtedly make these books a success and I cannot wait to read them to my youngest nephew (and I confess I wait in anticipation for the next book myself....)

Lakeland Odd Soks are available to buy in most local bookshops in the Lake District or via Lakeland Odd Soks
RRP: £6.99
Written by Steve Critchley
Illustrated by Steve Critchley & Rob Jones
Designed & edited by Erik Critchley


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