Vetman and his Bionic Animal Clan by Noel Fitzpatrick

Join Vetman, Imogen, Findlay and a whole cast of incredible bionic animals as they save animal companions everywhere from the evil plans of The Man With No Name! An amazing animal adventure for readers aged 7-11 from Noel Fitzpatrick, Channel 4's SUPERVET.

Vetman lives in a cottage outside a sleepy English village, where nobody realises that he's saving animals in incredible, bionic ways - except the animals themselves, of course!

But trouble is brewing... because Vetman's old foe, The Man With No Name, has set up camp nearby and plans to poison dogs and cats across the land.

When Imogen and Findlay stumble across an injured hedgehog and take him to Vetman's door, they have no idea that they are about to embark on an important mission to save more than just their spiky new friend.

Together with Vetman and his brave bionic animal clan, they must take down The Man With No Name!

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I only cried twice during this read, and one of those was at the author's note at the back. That's allowed, isn't it?

This is a fantastic, touching, heartwarming story that I imagine was a great deal of wish fulfillment by Noel. He does a great job at showing the toughest part of any vet's job and averting it beautifully with what's basically magic. 

There's also an amazing look at grieving from both Imogen and the Man With No Name (Spoiler: I was expecting it to turn out that Vetman was somehow the father, but if that's going to happen it hasn't yet. Perhaps in another volume of the series.) I love that no one told Imogen she was being silly or she needed to get over it; they gave her space and let her work things out in her own time.

Also, Pirate. Best dog.

This is a fantastic read. Parents with very sensitive children may want to preread to make sure it'll be ok, but I'm confident that children will love this. Who wouldn't want a hedgehog with springs for legs or an elephant with a hoover for a trunk?

Absolutely adored the illustrations; they were exactly the right mix of funny and real life and added immensely to the story.

Really great read and I can't wait for more in the series.

(Note; my Kindle version had a few sections where lines were mixed up, but I think that was because of the layout of the pictures. Hopefully it will be corrected by the time the official release comes out.)

Vetman and his Bionic Animal Clan publishes on the 28th of October, 2021. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.