ASTERIX AND THE PICTS
by Jean-Yves Ferri
Illustrated by Didier Conrad
48 pp. Orion Children's Books. £10.99. (Ages 10 and up)
ISBN
9781444011678
Rating: 4.5 Stars
This story starts with Asterix and Obelix finding a Pict man stuck in ice. Quickly, they call all of the Gauls to help them free the Pict man. Together they take the Pict man to Getafixi's hut. Suddenly the Pict man pops out of the ice and starts to walk. The Pict man sees a tiny man with a stone tablet talking to him and also writing things down on his stone tablet. As the Pict man can't speak he tells them his story in actions and carves the way to his land on one of Obelix's menhirs. Then the Gauls decide to have Asterix and Obelix take him back to his land: the land of the Picts. While on the boat the Pict man gets his voice back and tells them his name is MacAroon.
If you didn't already know this book wasn't written by the same writer then you wouldn't notice the difference. However, if you did already know then you would notice small differences like how each character seems to get a more equal time in the spotlight. Even though these books might be meant for young children, we still never cease to be amused by them. The reason for this is that our favourite character, Obelix, plays a great part in all the books and we are pleased to see that the new writer still gives Obelix a big role to play.
We think all ages that can read should definitely read this book. For all off the Asterix and Obelix books we give five out of five stars, for this book by itself we give four and a half stars.
also on Guardian Children's Books Site
