By Beccy Blake (author) , Beccy Blake (illustrator) Part of the Chicken Hill series
"Find your way into the ever-surprising world of Chicken Hill in this off the wall new comic series."
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February 2026 Debut of the Month
There are clues to the nature of the Chicken Hill stories contained in the detailed map on the opening pages of this hugely enjoyable new cartoon strip series.
The key features symbols indicating: strange sightings, mythical cryptids, teleported to other worlds, freaky events, and epic expeditions. The three stories that follow see our heroes, young Ferdy, ‘explorer of weird and Chief Inventor’, excitable pug Gripper, and Tink, cat and #1 sleep expert, saving the world from aliens desperate for baked beans, battling zombie cacti on the Dia de Muertas, and overcoming the autocratic King Frog. Epic adventures indeed!
In all of this they are helped/hindered by other Chicken Hill residents include ginger cat Uncle Russ, boomer and conspiracy theorist, rock and roll loving guinea pigs, and the Urban Foxes, a ‘well rude pair of street dudes with many, many side hustles.’ The map’s key could also usefully contain symbols for laugh out loud funny and surprises.
The three stories have all of that plus a finely tuned page-turning quality, and are just off the wall enough to ensure young readers never know what’s coming next whilst also creating a warm, inclusive community. With terrific full colour cartoon illustrations, young readers are certain to make their way back to Chicken Hill again and again.
Welcome to Chicken Hill: join Ferdy, Gripper and Tink as they investigate all things strange in their seriously weird town. Three hilarious and off-the-wall stories in one full-colour graphic novel, perfect for fans of Dog Man and Bunny vs Monkey.
Read the full description
Chicken Hill: Just your average, everyday, run-of-the-mill small town, where the pets can talk, the frogs rule over a secret underwater empire and you're only ever one day away from an alien invasion. Chicken Hill is home to Ferdy, a tech wiz with a knack for invention and a habit of running into trouble. Always with him is Gripper, his farty and self-obsessed pug, and Tink, his brother's forever-tired cat. Together, they investigate the many wild and weird happenings in town…
And whether fending off an invasion of zombie cactuses, or trying to keep an army of cloned conspiracy theorist cats out of office, there's no shortage of things to keep them busy. Because in Chicken Hill, there's only one rule: if you think things can't get weirder, they always can.
'Proper funny cartooning - I love it' - Jim Smith, Laugh Out Loud Book Award winning author of My Big Fat Poo Diary
'So much charm it's impossible to resist' - Huw Aaron, author of UnFairies
'The fun never stops in Chicken Hill!' - Sheena Dempsey, author of Pablo and Splash
'LOTS of fun!' - Rikin Parekh , illustrator of Charlie and the Christmas Factory
'Brilliantly bonkers!' - Neal Layton, Nestlé Smarties Book Award winning illustrator
Beccy Blake has always loved drawing everything and writing exciting stories but most of all, drawing and writing about silly things and weird stuff. Since growing up in the countryside in a scatty houseful of dogs, cats, chickens, ducks, little brothers, and a pair of goats who liked to eat everything, she went to art college up in Newcastle upon Tyne and got a degree in illustration and design. She then went on to draw and paint lots more of everything and more silly things for books, animations (including for Nick Cope’s Popcast for CBeebies), comics, children’s magazines, fun stuff for packaging, greetings cards and murals. She now lives in Bath with her artist partner (who has a shed just like Ferdy’s shed), two children (one likes studying sea creatures), a cat (very much like Tink), another cat (a bit terrifying like Thora), a pondful of newts and frogs, and a gardenful of obstinate snails plus the odd pigeon. Chicken Hill is Beccy’s debut graphic novel series.
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This is such a funny comic adventure book that I want to read it again (and again!)
I love Chicken Hill – Attack of the Zombie Cactus. It is comic style, so it is easier to read than a book with just words. The drawings are amazing. I love how there are three stories in one book. The characters kept their strong personalities throughout all the stories. I love how there are sea monsters, aliens and zombies in the adventures. I enjoyed the bits with the cute and funny snails and the comments they made, even though they weren’t really part of the story. I also enjoyed reading about the adorable little dog who lived in Mexico. My favourite of the three stories was King Frog because it made me laugh out loud. I enjoyed reading all the conversations in my head in different funny voices.... Read Full Review
I just couldn't see how it could get any better, but it did. A must for everyone's book collection
This book hooks you in from the very start. Fans of comic-style books will love this and won't want to put it down. Chicken Hill is a place where Ferdy, Gripper and Tink (who aren't chickens), live and they have to try to save the world from UFO's, Zombie Cactus' and escape the clutches of King Frog. Their adventures take them as far as Mexico where they get caught in a battle and find weird things.
My favourite story was Attack of the Zombie Cactus because it made me laugh out loud, especially the bit where they put slime on the gnome. The illustrations are great and give great details so the characters almost seem real.... Read Full Review
Chicken Hill - Attack of the Zombie Cactus is a hilarious book. I was laughing out loud.
Chicken Hill - Attack of the Zombie Cactus is a hilarious book. I was laughing out loud. My favourite character was Tink the cat because she is a hysterical character and also Gripper as he is always farting even in the silent moments.
There are three stories in this book. In the first one, Uncle Russ the cat and Gripper the dog are abducted by aliens. The aliens want to clone Uncle Russ so that he can get voted as the world leader and work for them.
In the second story they escape the clutches of the frog king.
My favourite story was the zombie cacti because it was the most thrilling story out of the three.
I would recommend this book to anybody who loves graphic novels and funny stories.... Read Full Review
Welcome to Chicken Hill: join Ferdy, Gripper and Tink as they investigate all things strange in their seriously weird town. Three hilarious and off-the-wall stories in one full-colour graphic novel, perfect for fans of Dog Man and Bunny vs Monkey.Chicken Hill: Just your average, everyday, run-of-the-mill small town, where the pets can talk, the frogs rule over a secret underwater empire and you're only ever one day away from an alien invasion.Chicken Hill is home to Ferdy, a tech wiz with a knack for invention and a habit of running into trouble.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed Chicken Hill: Attack of the Zombie Cactus and determined it is suitable for children aged 7-10 years old
Chicken Hill: Attack of the Zombie Cactus features in the following genres: Featured Books for 7+ readers, Featured Books for 9+ readers, Books Reviewed by our Reader Review Panels, Debuts of the Month, Recommendations, Funny, Graphic Novels & Comics, Graphic novel / Comic book / Manga: Humorous, Graphic novel / Comic book / Manga: Science fiction, Graphic novel / Comic book / Manga: Anthropomorphic / animal stories, Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Graphic novel / Comic book / Manga: genres
Paperback. £8.09, down from the £8.99 cover price. In Stock.
Chicken Hill: Attack of the Zombie Cactus was written by Beccy Blake and published by Bloomsbury Children's Books an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing (UK)
Chicken Hill: Attack of the Zombie Cactus has 203 pages
Yes it is part of Chicken Hill series
£8.09, reduced from £8.99. In Stock.
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