Murray the Viking (Murray and Bun!) by Adam Stower
Published by Random House Children's Books Genres: Humor, Juvenile Fiction / Comics & Graphic Novels / Humorous
Format: Graphic Novel
Source: MSL Book Review
Goodreads

This is the first book in a series starring Murray (a cat who loves routine, creature comforts, and predictability). Unfortunately, Murray lives in a house with an inept wizard by the name of Fumblethumb,  prone to mistakes of a magical kind that make Murray’s life interesting. He turns Murray’s “last and best” frosted bun into a bunny named Bun and enchants Murray’s cat door, so that one never knows if there is a relaxing stroll through the garden on the other side or an unwanted (if you’re Murray) exploit in another realm.

In this outing, Murray and Bun, his adventure-loving sidekick, are transported to the land of Vikings. The Vikings need Murray to solve the problem of the trolls, who they believe have eaten their leader, Eggrik. The trolls turn out to be delightful, friendly, and willing to share food, but they also have a problem they hope Murray can solve — a scary, hairy, very stinky something is in the wood, causing them a lot of distress. Intrepid readers will jump ahead and guess that the stinky, hairy something is Eggrik, and they will be right.

Eggrick is very stinky and very lonely, but he has a bigger problem that only Murray, through his unique brand of skills, can fix. Fix it he does and returns Eggrik to the Vikings. There is a celebration! There is a feast about to start! There is Murray, whisked magically back to his own cat flap place and time, and disgruntled about missing the feast.

Readers will learn that amazing adventures await when you are willing to step outside your comfort zones. Lots of jokes, visual and otherwise; cartoonish line drawings on every page. (I have labeled it a “graphic novel”, but it is more of a heavily illustrated story, like The Bad Guys series.)  Murray and Bun are goofy and adorable. This is for students who like theirs stories with lots of fast-paced action, adventure and humor.  The language is witty, cheeky, and dynamic.

Children of all ages will laugh at Murray’s obsessions with food, and his solutions to hairy problems. Readers will enjoy “Bun’s Bonus Bits” in the back matter, including “How to Draw Murray” and a “Family Album”. This would be a great gateway series to get students hooked on other magical adventure series with lots of humor, and would make for a rollicking read-aloud.

Highly recommended for public and school libraries.

Deanna Contrino, SLMS
K-2 Resource Librarian, Scarborough Schools