The hilarious, Julius Zebra: Rumble with the Romans! by comic book artist and writer, Gary Northfield, is the first in this series of books.
The book is about a young zebra who lives in Africa. He's a bit of a rebel. He
doesn't like visiting the stinky lake, his annoying big brother or his mum; but most of all he hates to be called a horse!
During a visit to the stinky lake he wanders off and is followed by Cornelius, a know-it-all, chatterbox warthog who he finds quite annoying. They fall into what they think is a sinkhole, where they find a grumpy, old lion called Milus.
What they don't realise is they have been kidnapped and are being taken to Rome by soldiers to fight great battles with gladiators in the world's deadliest theatre, the Colosseum!
When they get there they meet a group of other animals: Felix, who is a nice but dim giraffe, Rufus, the simple antelope, Lucia, the ditsy, vegetarian crocodile and Pliny, the feisty, little mouse. We join Julius and his friends on their epic adventure. They are made to join a gladiator school run by Septimus, the angry gladiator teacher, who sets about training them to fight the deadliest battle of their lives!
This book, set on the plains of Africa and in the city of Rome in ancient Roman
times, is a fantastic historical comedy centered on friendship. Gary Northfield
writes in an engaging, funny and exciting way. I felt like I was one of the animals on a big, scary but funny adventure. His cartoons also really helped the story come to life. I didn't dislike any anything about the author's writing style, he is such a good writer.
I love the way all the characters were brought to life. Pliny really made me laugh when he told Julius and his friends to "go kick gladiator butt!" The way the animals called the centurion, "Dead Bird Hat Man", because of his hat, was also very funny. My favourite part was when Septimus booted Felix the Giraffe so hard up the bottom that he flew to the forest of Germania. To the surprise of his friends, Felix came back for no reason, even though he had escaped!
I like that the page numbers are in Roman numerals. There are even pages at the back of the book that show you what the numerals stand for. There is also a glossary at the back of the book, which tells you what the Roman names featured in the story mean.
This book is a very funny, page-turning adventure, perfect for seven-year-olds and over to enjoy! It is great for train journeys. Simply pop it in your bag and take it anywhere… you won't want to put it down.
Stay tuned for the next book in the series… I can't wait to find out what happens to Julius, the not-so-boring zebra!
• Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop.
Want to tell the world about a book you've read? Join the site and send us your review!
