The Mystery of Castle MacGorilla

After providing readers with a wealth of history, theology, philosophy, short story, cultural commentary, and literary criticism, it is fitting that David Bentley Hart — here accompanied by his son Patrick — finally turn to the genre perhaps closest to his heart: children’s literature.

It is known, of course, that soft toys — teddy bears, cotton-stuffed rabbits, velveteen squids, and the like — are all but incapable of deceit, greed, or criminality. Yet, when the treasure of the ancient MacGorilla clan is stolen from their castle in the Scottish Highlands, it seems that one or more of the soft toys gathered there must surely be the culprit, or culprits. Trapped in the castle with his fellow toys by an unexpected snow storm, one small bear, with the aid of an even smaller pig and an easily distracted ape, must discover where the treasure is and who took it. Along the way adventures and perils abound: hidden passages, a lost library, a chase through a moonlit maze, flooding stairwells, rubber balls, paper clips, waffles, garbled aphorisms, and ever so much more. Never has such a weight of responsibility rested upon such soft, fluffy shoulders.

Suggested for ages 8+.

About the Illustrator

JEROME ATHERHOLT is a graduate of the Schuler School of Fine Art in Baltimore, MD where he also taught for 11 years. For the last 23 years he has been a senior artist at FIRAXIS Games in Maryland and lives with his family in Pennsylvania.