Here be monsters! : an adventure involving magic, trolls, and other creatures
(Book)

Originally published in Great Britain in 2005 by Oxford University Press.

While gathering food to bring to his grandfather, young Arthur becomes trapped in the city of Ratbridge, where he and some new friends try to stop a plot to shrink the monsters of Arthur's home, the Underworld, for a nefarious purpose. Welcome to Ratbridge. But beware -- for there is skulduggery afoot. Young Arthur has fallen foul of the appalling outlaw, Snatcher, and is trapped alone in the town with every way home sealed. Meanwhile Snatcher and his men are working tirelessly in secret on a fiendish and dastardly plan to take over -- and destroy -- the entire town. With the help of Willbury Nibble, QC; some friendly boxtrolls and cabbageheads; Marjorie the frustrated inventor; and the rats and pirates from the Ratbridge Nautical Laundry, can Arthur thwart Snatcher's evil plans -- and find his way home? Illustrated throughout with more than five hundred of the author's incredible black-and-white drawings, this unmissable debut novel will captivate anyone who appreciates the unordinary and the extraordinary.