Laura Ruttig (Children's Literature)
Ten-year-old Measle has lived in a horrendous house with his legal guardian Basil Tramplebone since his parents were killed. Basil’s house is filthy, cold, and has a permanent rain cloud above the roof. Only three rooms in the large, frightening house are inhabitable for poor Measle: the bathroom, the kitchen, and the attic. The kitchen is where Measle sleeps, as it is the least disgusting of the rooms downstairs. This is bad enough, but when Basil discovers Measle has played with the train set in the attic, things take a turn for the worse. Basil, an evil and cruel Wrathmonk, casts a spell that shrinks Measle to the scale of the model and traps him within the train set. Measle must fight poisonous donuts and a dangerous bat, while finding a way to defeat his guardian before starvation hits. This amazing adventure ends in a surprising fashion. At times amusing, at others exciting, this novel is likely to please most fantasy readers, although boys may particularly enjoy Measle’s smelliness and the large number of bugs. 2004, HarperCollins Publishers, $16.89. Ages 8 to 12.

Peg Glisson (Children's Literature)
Ten and a half year old Measle is another miserable, abandoned boy like Harry Potter and Lemony Snickett. He lives with Basil Tramplebone, his evil guardian in a horrible, dark, gloomy house over which there is always a black cloud. Measle becomes the target of Tramplebone’s wrath when he dares play with Tramplebone’s elaborate miniature train set. Tramplebone, a wrathmonk (an insane wizard, whose magic is all evil), reduces Measle to the size of the train set’s plastic figures. Measle discovers some of the set’s plastic figures were once human and amazingly brings some of them back to life by feeding them carrots. Tramplebone is furious when he discovers what Measle has done and sets on a path of revenge. Measle and his new friends are literally in the fight for their lives, ingenuously dealing with magic spells and a giant cockroach and bat. There is lots of drama in this mostly entertaining tale of rebellion and survival. Ogilvy’s language is very descriptive, which helps make the setting clear, but also occasionally slows the pace. Measle’s six new friends are barely developed and seem to be in the story for the abilities they will bring in the fight against Tramplebone, who is truly sinister and evil. A sequel is in the works. 2004, HarperCollins, $15.99 and $16.99. Ages 9 to 12.

Michele Winship (Kliatt Review, July 2004 (Vol. 38, No. 4))
Measle is miserable. At 12 1/2, he has lived the past six years with the horrible Basil Tramplebone, his court-appointed guardian, in a darkly bleak house overshadowed by a perpetual rain cloud. Measle is filthy and smelly, hungry and lonely, sleeping on the kitchen floor and scavenging crumbs. The only room in the house that Measle can bear is the attic, where Tramplebone has assembled the most remarkable train set that Measle has ever seen. But when he dares to visit the attic by tricking his guardian, Tramplebone takes out his wrath by shrinking Measle down to half an inch and placing him in the train set to live out his days. Measle soon discovers he isn't the only one to suffer such a fate and is able to change an group of "plastic" figures back to their flesh-and-blood selves, learning from Prudence the wrathmonkologist that Tramplebone is really a Wrathmonk, a wizard who is entirely evil and places spells on all who cross him. Together, they must find a way to beat Tramplebone at his own game. Ogilvy's storytelling will remind readers a little of Lemony Snicket, with a dash of Harry Potter tossed in for good measure. Category: Hardcover Fiction. KLIATT Codes: J--Recommended for junior high school students. 2004, HarperCollins, 224p., $15.99. Ages 12 to 15.

Timnah Card (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, November 2004 (Vol. 58, No. 3))
As long as he can remember, Measle Stubbs has been the ward of Basil Tramplebone, a pale, vindictive man with cold, fishy eyes and pointed teeth. When Basil catches Measle playing with Basil's model train set, the man reveals his true nature as a Wrathmonk (definition: an insane wizard) and shrinks Measle to half an inch tall, fating him to wander the landscape of the train set until the steady diet of doughnut crumbs and pink lemonade drops (litter from Basil's snacks) turns him into plastic, like the other six miniaturized people Measle finds in the set and rescues from petrification by judicious treatment with moldy carrots. As Basil searches in vain for his revived plastic people, his ire mounting against the heroic Measle, and Basil's pet mutant bat lurks in the rafters to eat any tiny thing that moves, the seven victims combine their talents for a last-ditch effort to overthrow the crafty Wrathmonk and win their freedom. This eccentric tale of insurrection and survival relies for its comedic energy almost completely on coincidental twists, given credibility with brief passages describing the characters' emotional and mental processes before, during, and after each providential event. That narrative strategy makes the book a pleasurable but not brilliant read, and the paragraphs dedicated to characters other than Measle, while entertaining, serve primarily to further the plot and not to fully develop anyone's personality. However, Basil's increasing creepiness and (it must be admitted) charismatic enthusiasm for evil will evoke readerly trills of mirth as well as thrills of apprehension, and Measle affords readers a likable hero with which to identify, centering this offering squarely in the current middle-grade marketing sweet spot. Review Code: Ad -- Additional book of acceptable quality for collections needing more material in the area. (c) Copyright 2004, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2004, HarperCollins, 224p, $16.89 and $15.99. Grades 4-6.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Spring 2005)
Measle learns his evil guardian is actually a warlock gone mad when Basil shrinks Measle down and forces him to live in a model train set. With the help of Basil's other miniaturized victims, Measle attempts to break the spell. The simply plotted story moves quickly but not always logically, with many rules of magic mandated simply to fulfill plot requirements. Category: Intermediate Fiction. 2004, HarperCollins, 213pp, $15.99, $16.89. Ages 9 to 12. Rating: 4: Recommended, with minor flaws.

Maureen Fernbacher (The Kutztown University Book Review, Spring 2005)
Measle Stubbs is an orphan who must live with his mean and miserly guardian, Basil Tramplebone, who is a wrathmonk or evil wizard. He puts a spell on Measle, making him a half inch tall. Then he imprisons Measle in the world of a model train set. Measle and the other people he meets in the same predicament must figure out how to save themselves and thwart Basil’s nefarious plans. Fans of the Lemony Snicket series will like this book. It is fast paced and humorous and entertaining, even if Measle’s bizarre adventures are a bit unbelievable. Category: Fiction. 2004, HarperCollins, $16.89. Ages 8 to 14.

Virginia Gleaton (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 17, No. 4))
Measle Stubbs is a ten-and-one-half-year-old orphan. His guardian is Basil Tramplebone, an evil and cruel Wrathmonk (a warlock gone mad). Basil casts a spell on Measle so that he is only one and one-half inches tall and trapped within Basil’s train set. Measle soon finds others who have suffered similar fates. Together, they figure out how to defeat Basil. This is a good story with interesting characters and great details. At first glance, this appears to be another Series of Unfortunate Events book, but it is different. The story moves fast enough to hold the reader’s attention. Fiction. Grades 5-7. 2004, HarperCollins, 210p., $16.89. Ages 10 to 13.

Christina Fairman (VOYA, April 2005 (Vol. 28, No. 1))
Measle is the young ward of Basil Tramplebone, a nasty man who has only two goals in life: to imprison Measle until the boy inherits a large sum of money and to reign over a giant model train set in the attic. Measle convinces Basil to leave the house one afternoon to attend to a fabricated problem at the bank. When Basil returns, he is shocked to discover Measle at the controls of his forbidden train set. Basil, who is in reality an insane warlock called a Wrathmonk, shrinks Measle to an inch in height and strands him inside the set. Measle quickly discovers other victims, some of whom have been there for years. Their only food is a bag of carrots, pools of spilled lemonade, and stale doughnut crumbs, which Basil has tainted with a substance that turns its consumers into plastic. Complicating matters is a frightening bat-like creature that lives in the attic's rafters and torments the prisoners at night. Although rushed, the dramatic conclusion will surprise readers. Young readers between the ages of nine and twelve will enjoy this suspenseful, well-written book. Teachers will find it useful as a read-aloud selection or part of a fantasy unit. Suggested companion readings are Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach (Knopf, 1961) and Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P M (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8). 2004, HarperCollins, 224p., $15.99 and PLB $16.89. Ages 11 to 14.