O’Connell, David – The Bell Bookshop

The Curse of Captain Slugbeard

Emma — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Adopted brothers Dribble the snail and Dash the firefly are back – this time facing a legendary slug pirate and his cursed booty! Third in the hilarious, highly illustrated black-and-white series for readers aged 6+ by David O’Connell.

Dribble has a new invention: a Bubbler (made from superpowered midge farts), perfect for making fizzy drinks. Cool Nat promises to trial the invention in Grottibottigan’s Juice Bar if the bros fetch him some seaweed from Bogbrush-on-Sea…

But the treacherous pirate Captain Slugbeard is rumoured to have buried his treasure on the very beach they’re going to. And he’s placed a terrible curse of bad luck upon anyone who tries to nab his loot.

At their hotel, the bros run into the naughty Dung Heap Gang, who are keen to sniff out the treasure. With the help of Dribble’s latest invention, can Dribble and Dash beat the beetles and escape the curse. or will they fall into the clutches of pirates? And will Prudence the prawn – creepie crawlie of the sea – and Big Steve the sardine prove to be friends or foes?

Witty and brilliantly author-illustrated by David O’Connell, the illustrator behind Tom Vaughan’s Hercules, Pip Bird’s The Naughtiest Unicorn and many more.
Absolutely teeming with funny and clever illustrations, perfect for fans of fiction and graphic novels alike.
Packed with a hilarious cast of characters in a world of minibeasts, mystery and mayhem!

Beastie Bros

Emma — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

An accessible, funny, black-and-white highly illustrated young fiction series from David O’Connell, starring a hilarious firefly and snail duo. Perfect for readers aged 6+ and fans of Jamie Smart, Toto the Ninja Cat and Dave Pigeon.

Dash is a little firefly. One of his wings is shorter than the other so he flies more slowly than everyone else, but that doesn’t stop him getting where he wants to go.

When he’s happy, his bottom lights up! And he’s happiest when he’s eating custard and hanging out with his adoptive brother, Dribble the snail. Dribble is never in a hurry. He likes to invent things – and eat cabbage. He keeps all kinds of useful objects hidden inside his shell. They help to keep him out of trouble, which is never far away…

Join our minibeast heroes on their first adventure as they foil a master criminal plot involving a crystal worm, ancient custard, a stolen Roboslug and some dastardly dung beetles…

A witty, brilliantly author-illustrated project from David O’Connell, the illustrator behind Tom Vaughan’s Hercules, Pip Bird’s The Naughtiest Unicorn, and many more.
A winning blend of the chaos, wacky humour, adventure and comic-style art of graphic novels like Bunny vs Monkey and Investigators, and a more traditional, wittily written fiction story.
A laugh-out-loud tale packed with hilarious characters like Flattened Dominic the slug and Mr Truffle the ball of dung!