Hapless, Hopeless, Horrible, by Joshua Wright

Something is amiss in the land of Sausagopolis. The lovely Princess Sugar has run away, and only the heroic Sir Glame and his trusty steed, Bill, can find her. Together, they travel the land, following clues, getting into trouble and making silly jokes as they search for the missing Princess.

The sequel to the well-received Plotless, Pointelss, Pathetic, Hapless, Hopeless, Horrible is full of humorous cartoons, sappy jokes, toilet humour and all the trademarks of author/illustrator Joshua Wright.

This volume does, however, have one disappointing aspect. Very early in the book Wright explains Sir Glame’s recovery from illness and mental instability, saying he found (and took) some expired medicine in a public toilet, and is now fully recovered. The humour in this statement is non-existent: with a recommneded reading audience of 8 to 13 year olds, this seems an irresponsible piece of text. It is a pity that a text which will be of such appeal to young readers has to be marred by this one page.

If it were not for this flaw, this would be an excellent book – likely to appeal as much to struggling readers as to confident, and full of laughs.

Hapless,Hopeless, Horrible, by Joshua Wright
Allen & Unwin, 2003