For the adventurous ones: ‘The Cherayroos: Underground Rules’ by S.P.Doran

The Cherayroos: Underground Rules is all about an adventurous explorer from a little community beneath our feet.

Chie lives in CherayrooVille, beneath the WhisperDeep forest. The village is enclosed in the ancient winding roots of the Tree of Solace, where little fluffy creatures with twiggy legs and arms and big, saucer eyes (and very strange noses) dwell happily.

They obey the Rootscript of Rules which define how they are to live, study, and work. The most important one is that they are never to leave the village – which is okay for most, but not for Chie, as he is keen to explore the Above and prove his bravery.

What follows is a series of adventures as Chie sets off to find the way out of CherayrooVille and see what lies Above. He meets other creatures, some helpful, some grumpy and some plain scary, but in the end he realises that, while adventures are exciting, the rules are there to protect him and others, and really, all he had to do was ask to make his dream come true.

This is a lovely book for very early readers or to be read aloud. The text is nice and big, on pages that resemble parchment or an old manuscript, complimenting the detailed, richly coloured illustrations. The chapters are short and the narrative moves along at a brisk pace to keep youngsters involved.

Perhaps in homage to Tolkein, there is a terrific map (reminiscent of The Hobbit) and snippets of Cherayroo words and phrases used, with a glossary at the back. I confess I found these a bit confusing due to them all starting with ‘ch’ – but that’s probably just me. At the back the author has included some interesting questions for children to consider about the story and its world.

The book is all about exploring, being curious and adventurous, and encouraging youngsters to observe and ask questions about the world around them. I admire writers who work to get their ideas out there and I hope this one continues with this world and the characters he has created, in future books.
I could also see a fabulous animated adaption of this story appealing to young fans!

The Cherayroos: Underground Rules is available in ebook and print versions on Amazon, and via the author’s website.
My thanks to the author for a review copy.