The Clockwork Friend

Author: Butler, Steven

Interest age: from c 8 years

Published on 4 May 2028 by Scholastic in the United Kingdom.

Sometimes being unusual is awesome!

The people of Middleditch have been keeping a suspicious eye on

the Garlics.

Marguerite Garlic is an ex-opera singer from the big city, her

father, Percival, is a jazz musician, and her son, Archibald, is...

is... different.

When Archibald inherits a dented old trumpet, a love of music

is born in the unusual boy. He discovers that when he plays, he can

see the music. Each note has a colour and a pattern, kaleidoscopic

in its beauty. But complaints come from all over the town about

Archibald’s incessant trumpeting. It's too jazzy! I'ts

too noisy! It's too TRUMPETY!

Seeking a place to practice his trumpet in peace, Archibald sneaks

into the town clocktower and builds himself a den. It is here

that he builds his masterpiece... A one-man band to wear on his

back. It's perfect!

But a twist of fate comes when a lightning storm rumbles-up over

Middleditch and Archibald's clocktower is struck by lightning

and... and... the one-man band he'd been intending to wear on his

back, comes to life. Cogs...

From the author of The Nothing To See Here Hotel series

and Humbug: The Elf Who Saved Christmas - Steven Butler is one

of our best loved storytellers. 

Perfect for fans of Wall-E and The Boy Who Made

Everyone Laugh. 

A gentle nod to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. 

A story about friendship, othering and synaesthesia.