The Beastly Baron of Beaux Bottom is a really unpleasant fellow. He does nothing but eat, attend entertainments, and then eat some more. Worst of all is that the Baron never keeps his promises to the towns folk who need his support in attending to issues. He keeps telling them he'll fix things but then gets busy with something else and never gets around to it.

One day, the Baron decides to head out with his army to watch over them practicing. During his time outdoors, he ends up going into the Wild Western Woods where he meets the Warty Witch. As anticipated, things don't go so well and the Baron ends up having a nasty spell cast upon him. Now he's forced to find ways of working with others to reverse the spell. Can the dreaded beastly Baron learn to cooperate and keep his promises in the future? You'll have to read it to find out!

We recently went on a big family holiday where we all stayed in the same vacation residence. I was reading this book at night to myself and then the kids (teens) in the bunk beds asked if I would read to them just like old times. So out of nostalgia, I flipped back to the beginning and started reading the book aloud to them. And, what a hoot. We all loved it! How could you not possibly laugh at the antics of the wild and outrageous Beastly Baron! The Greedy Goat of the Glen was by far our favourite character in the book, especially while it was eating the "spicy" vegetation. That said, all the characters are well-written, amusing, and more importantly memorable. They'll stick with you in your head and bring a smile to your face even days later.

Highly recommended as an easy chapter book that you can read over a few nights with the kids (no matter the age, I guess)!