Lost by Colin Thompson

The Floods: Book 10. Random House, 2011. ISBN: 9781864719468.
Here, we find the Floods having returned to Transylvania Waters as the rulers of the country. Considering that the area has never before been mapped, it is decided that Maldegard, Winchflat's wife and Edna Hulbert, who are both 'outsiders from the world of humans',  having previously been in a position to use maps, would be the ones to undertake such a task. The only place names having been used to date are more descriptions of the various locations and applicable to multiple places in the country, hence, the women have a large task ahead of them. Whilst the women are off exploring and mapping the land, King Nerlin is endeavouring to set up a Parliament back at home. Both tasks prove to be filled with their own sets of issues and difficulties.
Thompson's attitudes are hilariously expressed throughout the story as he talks about the ban on cardigans, his opinions on politics and the importance (or lack of it) of technology and social networking. 'Wizards are intelligent enough to realise that going to the toilet is a lot more interesting, rewarding and important than anything to do with politics.' Likewise, given his attitude toward reality TV, one can only wonder whether the choice of Transylvania Waters as the setting for this book is in any way related to the 1992 series Sylvania Waters.
The Floods titles are definitely written with humour as a key element and should appeal to children who enjoy fantasy, gross snippets and humour, although a certain amount of the humour would perhaps be more applicable to older readers.
Jo Schenkel