An Indie Next pick! This hilarious middle grade series with color illustrations throughout is The Sisters Grimm meets Shrek! For Nobbin Swill, life is no fairy tale. His family has been the king's royal dung farmers for generations. It's a stinky job and someone has to do it, but Nobbin doesn't want to spend his whole life as a dung farmer. On a dark, cloudy night, Nobbin catches a flicker of moonlight glimmering off something in the dung. It could be a button or a buckle, something that might fetch him a coin from the shoemaker. But it turns out to be a very valuable ring-the king's ring, and one that could offer Nobbin a life free from dung! But Nobbin isn't a thief and would never steal from the king, so he makes his way to the castle. When he tries to return the ring, things only become more complicated, and he ends up having to help the hapless Prince Charming solve a mystery when the woodcutter's children-Gretel, and her younger brother, Hansel-go missing. Will the two be able to solve the case? Children will enjoy this hilarious mystery, with two-color illustrations throughout by author/illustrator Lisa Harkrader!
