Curiosity House: The Shrunken Head (Book One)
The book is about, among other things: the strongest boy in the world, a talking cockatoo, a faulty mind reader, a beautiful bearded lady and a nervous magician, an old museum, and a shrunken head.
Blessed with extraordinary abilities, orphans Philippa, Sam, and Thomas have grown up happily in Dumfrey’s Dime Museum of Freaks, Oddities, and Wonders. Philippa is a powerful mentalist, Sam is the world’s strongest boy, and Thomas can squeeze himself into a space no bigger than a bread box. The children live happily with museum owner Mr. Dumfrey, alongside other misfits. But when a fourth child, Max, a knife-thrower, joins the group, it sets off an unforgettable chain of events.
When the museum’s Amazonian shrunken head is stolen, the four are determined to get it back. But their search leads them to a series of murders and an explosive secret about their pasts.
Blessed with extraordinary abilities, orphans Philippa, Sam, and Thomas have grown up happily in Dumfrey’s Dime Museum of Freaks, Oddities, and Wonders. Philippa is a powerful mentalist, Sam is the world’s strongest boy, and Thomas can squeeze himself into a space no bigger than a bread box. The children live happily with museum owner Mr. Dumfrey, alongside other misfits. But when a fourth child, Max, a knife-thrower, joins the group, it sets off an unforgettable chain of events.
When the museum’s Amazonian shrunken head is stolen, the four are determined to get it back. But their search leads them to a series of murders and an explosive secret about their pasts.
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Reviews
A gorgeous story -- timeless and magical.
Stupendous and stupefying! A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside a Shrunken Head. If you aren't curious about Curiosity House somebody must have pickled your brain and put in a jar. Read this book immediately.
Step right up! Step right up! Mystery, murder, curses, and sideshow freaks! Or are they superheroes? There's only one way to find out... Read Curiosity House! You'll be glad you did!
An absolute delight . . . The story is packed with mystery, murder, adventure, humour and magic, but above all it is a beautiful evocation of loss, tempered by the gradual blossoming of friendship, trust and hope. Although aimed at younger readers, the lightness of touch and the tenderness of the message could make grown men weep.
LIESL & PO by Lauren Oliver brings much-needed magic to an increasingly neglected age group . . . there are some exquisitely drawn characters . . . it's books like this, with its classic quest plot, intertwined with lyrical metaphysics, that can set a child up for life.