RARE BEASTS is the first book in a brilliant, hilarious (and nefarious) new series - Edgar & Ellen - that has been originated in the US. The series smartly combines the influences of Edgar Allen Poe, Norman Rockwell, and Victorian-era literature in hilarious stories of gothic, creepy twins who live in a community of kindly townspeople, covered bridges, and milk trucks. A strange combination perhaps, but the result is pure mischief. Times two. In RARE BEASTS, Edgar & Ellen, bored with fighting each other and tormenting Pet, the strange creature that lives with them, hit upon a money-making scheme. They kidnap and decorate all the pets of the town of Nod's Limbs, turning them into valuable, exotic animals. Then they try to sell them back to the townspeople. Dozens of pets separated from their loving owners, trapped in the dank basement, each undergoing its own unique and terrible transformation. Oh, the horror! Edgar & Ellen are delightfully bad, bad, bad. Children will continue to respond to their outrageous behaviour, as well as cheer on the inevitable conclusion: that Edgar and Ellen's trickery always gets them in the end.