Good vs nasty, vile, disgusting, villainous evil, as Maligna the Harpy tries to destroy the kingdom of Sylvania. Can 11 year-old Sandy and her band of loyal animals and fairyfolk save the day? And will she ever see Scotland again? 

The success or otherwise of a children's book is down to the quality of the imaginative world it sucks the reader into. If it's credible, consistent and convincing, it doesn't matter how fantastical the subject matter is - it will grip you. Of course, being exciting and entertaining won't hurt either. 

Some of the most famous imaginative worlds grew over a series of novels - Tolkien, CS Lewis and JK Rowling are just three authors whose masterpieces began with the germ of an idea and grew. But it's rare for an entire world to appear fully formed in Volume 1. 

Yet that's precisely what's happened with Mairi Craw's wonderful novel, "Beyond The Hedge", the audio of which you're standing on the verge of buying right now. Reviewers have described it as "enchanting", "delightful" and "charming" - but it's so much more than these rather prissy epithets suggest. Yes, there's fairies, pixies and sprites, but in Pestilence Grimshaw there's a pirate that would make Captain Hook wet his pants, and in Maligna the Harpy a villainess that could eat Voldemort for breakfast. In between, there's a wealth of characters including a talking crow, a giant rat, a snake with a speech impediment and a lobster who sports a range of jazzy bathing suits and sunglasses. In fact, Mairi's teeming world is just so full-on imaginative and possessed of so much energy, you wonder if she hasn't been hitting the parsnip wine. 

Yet amid all these vivid inventions, there's a very specific geographical location - the small harbour town of Irvine on Scotland's west coast, where the author grew up, where the adventure begins, and where Mairi chose to launch "Beyond the Hedge". In fact, the house known as "Woodburn", which you'll find in Chapter 1, complete with its large garden - and hedge - is still there, albeit divided up into the inevitable flats. And there's another twist. The print version features some incredible illustrations by Mairi's former art teacher, Johnny Milne, who she hadn't seen since schooldays! Joyously re-united after umpteen years, they're quite a team. Why both of them aren't megastars is beyond me. 

PS: the good news is that Mairi's currently working on Volumes 2 and 3! And if you want a hard copy, Vol. 1's available on amazon.co.uk, or through mairicraw.com.