Here Be Monsters! The Ratbridge Chronicles, Book 1

Since its first appearance in 2006, Here Be Monsters! has been a particular hit with with reluctant readers for its fast-moving narrative and plentiful oddball illustrations by the author. Set in a fictitious, vaguely 19th-century universe where some cultures use steam and others electricity, the plot turns on clever inventions, some benign, some not so much -- which may lead to some interesting discussions about technology and its unintended consequences, à la "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." The language is very British, and some young U.S. readers may need some explanation of terms such as "chuffed" (quite pleased); at various points our heroes use "knickers" (underpants) for weapons, which will probably add the word to many non-British kids' vocabularies.

Here Be Monsters! is a cartoonish tale, but there are plenty of good guys, including plucky Arthur, his unjustly accused uncle, inventor Marjorie, lawyer Willbury, and a host of boxtrolls, cabbageheads, and pirates (human and otherwise) who pool their talents to save the day and outwit the bad guys.

Lawyer Willbury says he's "kicked the posteriors" of past adversaries. One recurring theme involves the use of "knickers" (British for "underpants") as weapons. Another deals with fashionable ladies obsessed  with having "hexagonal buttocks."