Debi Gliori's Pure Dead Book Series

Need a fix of magical children, mythical creatures and plenty of heart? Scottish author Debi Gliori is just the ticket when she transports you to Stregaschloss, ancestral home of the Strega-Borgias, in her Pure Dead series. Wannabe-witch mom, Baci, and dad, Luciano, manage a houseful of kids, servants and beasts. When computer wiz son, Titus, and his younger sister, Pandora, aren't bedeviling each other, they have each others backs battling minions of the devil. Meanwhile, baby sister Damp discovers the world around her and the mysterious powers she possess that become more evident as she gets older. Damp couldn't have a better nanny to guide her than Mrs. McLachlan, a full fledged magical person, a fact unbeknownst to the family she's come to protect and love. Loyal butler, Latch, Marie Bane, the worst cook in the world, and Nona Strega, the centuries old ancestor who lives in the freezer, round out the humans in the mansion. Then there's the yeti, gargoyle, dragon and crocodile. And, this being Scotland, the loch beside Stregaschloss has it's very own version of Nessie.

Constantly in peril from evil forces, such as Luciano's mafia-connected brother, the collapsing roof of their centuries old home and minor demons, the eccentric family muddles through with humor and imagination. Sometimes it seems like Titus and Pandora are the voice of reason in the family but Luciano is a quietly grounding influence and Mrs. McLachlan works her magic behind the scenes while Baci's feeble attempts at witchcraft usually make things comically worse. The beasts, who have the run of the house and grounds, also tend to complicate already bad situations before they triumph in the end. But one thing is clear through embarrassing transformations, Damp being shrunk and emailed through the internet and the stink of a moat being remodeled, that all these idiosyncratic and unconventional characters, human and beast, possess enough loyalty and heart to fill all the lochs of Scotland to overflowing.

Like Harry Potter, the Pure Dead series (Pure Dead Magic, Wicked, Brilliant, Trouble and Batty) is written primarily for children and that's obvious in some of the grosser descriptions of bodily functions, damage done by misguided magic, etc. But the storylines are complicated and the characters are pure human even when the action and dialog shoots over the top. That's the fun of it, really. Gliori's writing never talks down to the reader and her use of language demands attention because you don't want to miss any pun or word play she tosses out like beads at Mardi Gras. Most of the books include a Glio-sory, explaining some of the Scottish colloquialisms and other strange words and phrases, which is very helpful.

I was lucky enough to stumble onto Pure Dead Magic in the children's section of my local library. What caught my attention was the cover art, a sort of Edward Gorey meets Norman Rockwell portrait of the family, done by Gliori herself. She's written and illustrated dozens of children's books for the younger ages (she has 5 kids herself) and the biographies I've read on different publishers websites certainly paint the author herself as a character that could show up at Stregaschloss and be right at home there.