Beyond the Deepwoods: The Edge Chronicles #1 (by Paul Stewart)

The Edge is a bizarre world filled with weird creatures ("woodtrolls, slaughterers, gyle goblins, termagent trogs ... monstrous creatures, flesh-eating trees, marauding hordes of ferocious beasts," and many, many more) and altered physics (certain types of rocks and wood float, powering sailing ships that ply the air).

Hiding from sky pirates, Twig strays from the path in the Deepwoods forest and encounters one weird creature and gruesomely dangerous situation after another, all the while trying to find a place where he can belong.

The Edge may refer to the part of the world where the story takes place, but it also describes the part of the seat where your child will breathlessly linger. This author and illustrator team possess seemingly inexhaustible, if somewhat rank and fetid, imaginations, just the kind to delight kids with a taste for the creepy, gross, and bizarre. They trot out one all-too-vividly ghastly place and creature after another with wild abandon.

Twig stumbles (usually literally) from frying pan to fire over and over at a pace that some may find exhausting, and the lack of any real goal can make it seem pointless, if exciting, at times. But it's well-written, with crystal clear descriptions and delightfully creepy illustrations, and set into an inexpensive, old-fashioned hardcover edition. Many kids are going to eat this up and beg for more.