- Illustrated Chapter Books
- Ages 8–11
- Fantasy
Flember: The Glowing Skull
Book 3 of 5 in FlemberView the full series
The series gets a little spookier and more villain-driven here, while still staying firmly comic and child-friendly. A good pick for readers who like skulls, danger and fantasy stakes without genuinely frightening intensity.
- Best for8–11
- FormatIllustrated
- Length304 pp
- Read aloud~4 hr20 min
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Conversational
- Comedic
Tone
- Funny
- Adventurous
- Exciting
- Suspenseful
- Whimsical
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
Dev and Boja return in a third Flember adventure where the island's strange power becomes more contested and more dangerous. The glowing skull gives the book a spookier hook than the earlier volumes, but Jamie Smart's comic style keeps the tone bright and accessible rather than frightening. The story continues to mix magical energy, invention, strange creatures, villains and fast visual comedy, with Dev's curiosity and Boja's lovable robot-bear presence keeping the emotional core steady. This is a more action-forward instalment, useful for children who want the series to grow beyond discovery into conflict and danger. The illustration remains central to the experience: pages are lively, expressive and visually supportive, helping sustain a longer fantasy narrative for readers who might struggle with denser prose-led books.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
- 1
- 3
- 5
- 7
- 9
- 11
- 13
- Best fit · 8–11
- Read aloud · 8–11
- Independent · 8–11
Prose load
Moderate
Visual support
Very high
Reluctant-reader friendly
Very
Read-aloud quality
Strong
Works well for
- Reading aloud
- Reading together
- Reluctant readers
Preview before sharing if a child is sensitive to: scary imagery.
Bedtime suitability
3 / 5 · Workable
Sensitive-child
2 / 5 · Use judgement
Graphic intensity
3 / 5 · Some
Best for
- Bunny vs monkey fans
- Mildly spooky adventure
- Robot friends
- Visual fantasy
- Illustrated adventure
Avoid if
- Has not read earlier flember
- Very sensitive to skulls
- Prefers real world school comedy
Particularly good for children who are…
- Reluctant reader
- Interested in science
- Making friends
- Nightmares or fears
In the classroom
How it works in school.
A funny, inventive fantasy-adventure series — a reluctant-reader-friendly classroom-library pick.
A book children love that happens to support school — never a stand-in for the texts a class is taught with. Reviewed for the classroom · June 2026.
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
The specific kick is the spooky pivot — the glowing skull turning the series briefly darker, a proper villain making the magical power dangerous in ways the early books only hinted at. The Flember for a child ready for the series to grow up a notch.
- Secret world
- Adventure and freedom
- Surviving danger
- Making a difference
Why parents love it
The Flember where the series stops being purely cosy — villain-driven, skull-themed, slightly spookier without tipping into actual horror. Mid-series escalation done well. Best for a reader already invested in Dev and Boja.
- Shared humour
- Beautiful illustrations
- Quick to read
In the series
Flember.
5 books · open the series →
About the author & illustrator
Jamie Smart.
If you liked this
Three ways out of this book.
If you liked this, try…
Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.
Come into this from…
Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.
Where to go next…
Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.
Buy or borrow
Pick up a copy.
- Bookshop.org ↗
- Waterstones ↗
- Amazon UK ↗
- Hive ↗
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