Bone Head

Demise, known to everyone as Bone Head, is a skeleton guardian of the underworld and, in his own opinion, the finest one ever assembled. The fire and the marauding dragons don't trouble him in the slightest. What does trouble him is that Hades, his Big Boss, barely knows he exists. One attention-grabbing stunt later, the gates of Hades' castle have disintegrated, and Demise and Mort are demoted to dog-sitting. The dog is Cerberus: three heads, famously ferocious, and rather a lot for two creatures made of bones to keep in check.

Jamie Gregory's debut is told in diary form, with a bickering double act at its heart and bold two-colour illustrations throughout. Young readers who like their Greek myths silly and their heroes hopelessly overconfident will have a riotous time down below.