about the book
Elliot’s Uncle Archie is the head of research and development for DENKi-3000, the world’s eighth-largest electronic factory. For years, Elliot has been asking his uncle to give him a tour, but Archie’s always been too busy.
Then one day Archie sends Elliot a note inviting him and his friend Leslie to stop by for a tour. But who’s Leslie? He doesn’t have many friends, let alone one named Leslie. Wait second, at the school science fair he tied for third place with a girl named Leslie. Is that who Archie is talking about?
On the tour, Elliot and Leslie discover that all the inventions are created by fantastical creatures, such as a French-speaking bird-sized fairy and a giant dreadlocked salamander.
But Chuck Brickweather is threatening to shut down the DENKi-300 factory if a new product isn’t presented soon. The creatures are in danger! Can Elliot and Leslie help the unusual “employees” create an invention so astonishing that it will save the Creature Department?
about the author
Robert Paul Weston was born in England, but grew up in Ontario, Canada. Since then, he’s lived in Canada, the US, Japan, Switzerland, and the UK.
To get where he is today—telling stories for a living—Robert has worked some odd jobs. Some of the weirdest were as an editor with a small-press literary magazine (odder than it sounds), a trampolinist (not as odd as it sounds), and a dub-script writer for imported Japanese cartoons (odd).
One thing that helped prepare Robert for creating the monsters in his novel The Creature Department is that he currently lives in London. His neighborhood is full of street art of all shapes and sizes, painted on tall buildings and hidden in alleyways. Pictures of some of the street art are post on his website.
Robert’s hidden, or maybe not so hidden, superpower is that he can speak to inanimate objects.
Sources:
Creature Department website
Author website
Author interview: Fanboy Comics
Author interview: Cecelia Bedelia
Also by Robert Paul Weston:
Gobbled by Ghorks (Creature Department, Book 2). Razorbill. 2014.
Prince Puggly of Spud and the Kingdom of Spiff. Razorbill. 2013.
Zorgamazoo. Razorbill. 2008.
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