ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

Moongobble has successfully (sort of) completed two of his three tasks to prove that he deserves to be a magician. His third task is to retrieve a jewel called The Queen’s Belly Button, which has the power to turn its owner evil, from the elves who stole it. The elves, who used to be peaceful creatures, have been badly influenced by the Belly Button and they do not want to give it back.

Edward et al. once again set out with Moongobble to help him get the jewel. It’s obvious by now that Moongobble always needs help because every time he attempts a magic spell, he is still turning things into cheese. Will Moongobble, Edward, and the rest of the gang be able to resist the temptation of the Queen’s Belly Button?

Again, there’s some repetitiveness as the reader is re-oriented to Bruce Coville’s world, and the same pattern is followed exactly, but this is mostly forgivable in a book aimed at children in grades 2-4. The recap is done quickly and the adventure begins almost immediately. As usual, there’s a surprise at the end!

The Evil Elves is the third book in Bruce Coville’s MOONGOBBLE AND ME series. Like its predecessors, it’s an hour long on audio and superbly produced by Full Cast Audio. I can highly recommend this series on audio, but you might want to also take a look at the print version because it’s beautifully illustrated by Bruce Coville’s wife, Katherine. My daughters and I have enjoyed listening to MOONGOBBLE AND ME together, but my older daughter (4th grade) is also planning to check out the hardbacks from the library so she can read them and get credit for Scholastic’s Reading Counts Program.

There are still a couple of books left in the MOONGOBBLE AND ME series. I’ve already downloaded the next one, The Mischief Monster. ( )

A very silly but engaging story of a young boy going on a quest with his magician friend, his pet dragon, frog, elf, and rusty knight. Enjoyable as an audio book but may not have been as great in a hard copy. Overall still a good story. ( )