Published By: Nosy Crow
Pages: 240
Released On: 14/08/2025
Reading Age: 9-12 Years
When Maisie travels with her Dad to the Himalayas to research his book, How to Find Buried Treasure, she doesn’t expect their exploration to take them deep into the caves beneath the mountains. Before long, Maisie has discovered a cursed treasure, stolen a shark, been hunted as a thief, walked through an underground lake and outrun an explosion. Just another average day!
Turns out there’s more to Maisie than she even realised herself, but will Dad tell her truth? Or is this secret just too dangerous?
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Nosy Crow for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I loved the first book in this series – Maisie vs Antarctica – and even though I’m three times the recommended reading age, I was really looking forward to the next installment.
It is a children’s book, it’s full of magic, fantasy, and adventure. It’s full of family, love, exploration, and trust.
Because everything was set up in the first book, it means this one gets straight in so there’s no preamble. I would say it could be read as a standalone but I thoroughly recommend reading the first book before this one as you’ll get more from it.
It’s a bit more contained than the first one. For about 80% of the book, we have our two main characters, Maisie and her dad (plus a new character) all in one location – a cave. This has the potential to be quite boring because it’s the same characters in just one setting but it works. It means we can focus on the characters and their relationships more.
I loved the development of the characters, Maisie in particular. Wee meet her in the first book and she’s a bit lonely, she wants adventures, she wants to be with her dad, but she is quite naïve. Whereas this one, she is still a child and still wants adventures but she’s braver in this one, she stands up for herself more. She knows who she is now, what she can do, and what she wants.
Like I said at the start, I am more than three times the reading age, but I still really enjoy this series. It’s quick and easy to read, it’s fun and quirky, it’s got tension in it, and there are some serious topics working into the adventure story which is good. I don’t know how long he intends to make this series but I for one will definitely be keeping an eye out, and it’s definitely one I will be recommending to the kids in my family.
Books By Your Bedside 