John Chambers

Mucking About

Little Island Books 2018

ISBN 9-781912417056

Although set in Ireland’s legendary past, plenty of modern readers will recognise and be much amused by the misadventures of Manchán, his best friend Pagan-of-the-Six-Toes, and his know-it-all older sister Méabh. Each of the six fun-filled chapters relate mad escapades of a boy and his family who ‘lived when old ways were changing in Ireland and new ways were just getting started.’

His mother has plans for Manchán to be educated by Brother Abstemius, his uncle, and become a monk. However, the boy has other ideas for his future, ones that include keeping company with Muck (his pet pig), making up songs like his dad, and messing about with Pagan in local forests and on nearby lakes.

But as his mother says, ‘The world is always coming at us, in good ways and sometimes in bad ways too. It is best we are prepared for both.’ They reach a compromise. Manchán agrees to try-out the monastery for a year, learning music, and reading and writing, and all things useful that the monks may impart, on condition that he has Muck for company and regular visits from Pagan (but not Méabh).

While there’s the odd anachronism here and there, jumbling up druids and monks and Vikings, Chambers makes the past accessible, relatable, and fun. The book is great for readers transitioning into chapter books, with a friendly map and glossary to help with unfamiliar Irish words or aspects of history. Chambers, an Irish cartoonist, screenwriter, illustrator, and author based in Berlin, has other popular books that children will enjoy as a follow-up to this one.

Pat Ryan