The Rambler’s Curse

The first book in a brand new trilogy for 8+ readers, set in the world of the best-selling, award-winning The Café at the Edge of the Woods – perfect for fans of The Wild Robot, The Last Bear and The Hobbit.

Everything is going wonderfully for Rene and Glumfoot at the Café at the Edge of the Woods until one day disaster strikes – a creature most foul and dangerous stumbles across the café during a storm: a human!

Humans, in Rene’s opinion, are monsters. And after Glumfoot discovers that humans have also been venturing into the enchanted world of Wandthorn Woods, threatening to disturb the lives of all of the creatures who live within it, he and Rene must set out on a mission to uncover who the intruders are, what they want, and how to stop them from destroying everything they hold dear.

It is a mission that will set in motion a series of events that may very well change the world forever…

Award-winning author-illustrator Mikey Please expands the world of his best-selling picture book The Café at the Edge of the Woods in this incredible story, the first in a brand new trilogy for 8+ readers featuring Rene and Glumfoot.

Funny, exciting, warm-hearted, and beautifully illustrated throughout with stunning black and white artwork, The Rambler's Curse is an unmissable adventure.

Reviews

Praise for The Café at the Edge of the Woods:

'[an] accomplished debut … the artwork is sublime … so original, so distinctive, it suddenly makes the competition look bland' The Times

'An unusual, intricate, delightfully grotesque rhyming picture book' The Guardian

‘Exasperated parents of picky eaters will love this gorgeously illustrated, gothic gourmet giggle’ Daily Mail

'I really, really love this story' Jon Klassen

'[Mikey Please] has one of the most brilliant minds I know' Daniel Kwan, director of Everything Everywhere All at Once

‘A captivating picture book debut' Bookseller

'A funny, tautly plotted delight … The Café at the Edge of the Woods is a brilliantly accomplished debut that will appeal to children and their parents’ Bookseller

About the author

Mikey Please is the author of debut picture book THE CAFE AT THE EDGE OF THE WOODS, which won the Waterstones Children's Book Prize in 2025. He is a BAFTA award-winning and OSCAR nominated animation director and writer based in Bristol and is an alumnus of Wimbledon School of Art, the Royal College of Art and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.