The Bedtime Boat by Sital Gorasia Chapman and Anastasia Suvorova

Children and bedtime are an issue that most parents will have had to deal with at some time or another.  But this is also an issue for adults, who in this fast paced world of ours, find it very difficult to find that calm feeling that will allow them to sleep.  Over the last few years and particularly since the pandemic, we have all become more aware of our well being and mental health.  The importance of a good night’s sleep is well known, but giving yourself the sense of calm that is needed to sleep, that is not so easy.  thankfully there is advice out there to help us and our young people to relax and sleep.

In this delightfully engaging story we get to meet the young Chandan and his mother as they go through their nightly ritual to bring calmness and relaxation to the end of the day.  It has been a hectic day with lots of adventures, including a visit to a fun fair; but now is the time for those comforting activities such as a bath, brushing teeth and snuggling down with favourite toys and blankets.  However, even for a small child it is not always easy to relax from the excitement of the day.  The brain has a habit of repeating the events of the day and questioning what has happened.  Thankfully Chandan’s mother has a method of helping him calm down and this is a technique which uses the concept of a boat (placed on the tummy) in order to calm and soothe breathing.  But Chandan is a child with a lot of imagination and he envisages a range of sea based problems that need dealing with; from pirates, whales,  and sharks all of these fears have to be dealt with.  His mother uses the constant repetition of  “Watch the boat, Chandan, it floats on the ocean.  It rises and falls with your breath’s gentle motion.”  This helps bring a symmetry  to the flow of the story and also a gentle rhythm  which becomes really obvious and calming if you read the story out loud.

The illustrations really bring this story alive with the vivid, yet quite mellow, colour palette.  The layout on the pages varies a great deal and even  the phrase “watch the boat” is  used in a multitude of ways, so that there is no chance of boredom.  We have images  in vertical and horizontal alignment as well as those taking the whole page, or even a double page spread.  There is always something to discover and this should work beautifully as a bedtime story, or a calming afternoon read for foundation age children.  the love of the parent and child comes through both the text and the images and makes the book feel like a warm and cuddly blanket.

The back of the book gives instructions on how to make a paper boat and though it seems quite easy, you do have to keep in mind which is the back and which is the front!  Yes, I have made a first attempt and will give it another go, to see if I can improve!!  I think I might read the story whilst listening to Enya singing “Sail away”

Sital Gorasia Chapman, author

Sital left a career in banking, trained as a yoga instructor, and then started writing. She studied Writing for Children at the City Lit, and her picture book submission was commended at the FAB awards in 2019. Sital was commissioned to write a poem for the CBeebies children’s television series Colours. She writes fiction, non-fiction and poetry for children and lives in London with her husband and three young daughters.

Website: https://sitalgorasiachapman.com/

Anastasia Suvorova, illustrator

Hello! My name is Anastasia Suvorova. I am a freelance illustrator based in Limassol, Cyprus.
I specialize in artwork for picture books, covers, advertisements, animations and game projects. I aim to create poetic, philosophical, deeply felt and permeated by a sense of magic illustrations. I love creating new and beautiful worlds through my projects, especially in stories about nature, dreams, travel, attention and kindness.
Represented internationally by Illozoo | the visual communication agency.
anastasia@chaosego.com

The House Trap by Emma Read and Coralie Muce

I suspect that we all have experience of houses that are run-down, creepy and have stories told about them.  I still remember as a child a house, on my walk home from town, that we had been told was inhabited by a witch!  Needless to say we always walked on the opposite side of the road, even though we never saw this person.

In this wonderful story we have the same concept.  The children are the central characters and they comprise of two families, Claude and his young sister Amity and his best friend Deliah, but we also have new friend Sam, who manages to create friction in the group.  At a family gathering before Claude and his family move away, the children are sent out to play and Amity runs off into the local Badwell wood; this is a place of rumour and tragedy, with tales of disappearing children, which explains why it is out of bounds.  When the others follow, they find the dilapidated remains of a house, which had been empty since the 1930s.  The front door is wide open, so they go in, hoping to find Amity and then the door closes behind them.  This is when everything starts to go wrong as they can’t get the door open and the house almost seems to be playing tricks on them.  Now, the three children have to try and find Amity and then get themselves out of the house.  What follows is almost like an Escape Room challenge as the children find clues, many of which revolve around the original disappearance of the last owner’s daughter in 1930.  Will the young people escape and what mysterious forces are working against them?  Importantly do you believe in ghosts and spirits?

Well, whilst this is a story for middle grade readers it is still aiming at sending a shiver down the spine, and it achieves this brilliantly.  We start off with the frictions between the young people and this is so central that it almost lulls us into a sense of false security.  However, the author very slowly builds up the tension and gradually introduces more and more elements that make you desperate to get out of the building.  This really is a wonderfully sinister tale of the supernatural and it is going to be a brilliant introduction to this genre for the primary reader.  Linked to this we have the more recognizable issues between siblings and friends as they inevitably grow and change over time.   The old saying “two’s company, three’s a crowd” definitely seems to be the case at the beginning of the story, but as things develop, the young people learn that they have to work together if they actually want to achieve their aims.  I love the way that the children learn from their adventures and that they are not two dimensional characters, making us feel more invested in their stories.  Thank you Emma for a truly spine-chilling story.

About Emma

Once upon a time (in school), Emma was told she had to choose between being a scientist and a creative but deep down she knew she could be both.

Her favourite things in the world are: badges, Death On the Nile (1978), hats, foxes, deserts, desserts and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. She’s not sure which holiday is best – Halloween or Christmas (she loves all things spooky, but also presents and singing Christmas carols.) Her one regret in life is never having trained to be an astronaut.

​https://www.emmareadauthor.com/ 

 

 

The Sundae Delivery Service by Holly Rivers

I was asked to take part in this blog tour just before I went on holiday, so the story stayed at home waiting for my return.  Oh, how I wished that I had taken it with me (the explanation will follow shortly.)  I had the great pleasure of reviewing Holly’s previous book about “The Boy in the Post” and so it was delightful that I would be able to enjoy the new adventure featuring the three Shalloo siblings, Orinthia, Seafra and Taber.

In this book they are back in their village of Little Penhallow and are excited because an Ice Cream parlour, called the Two Scoops Creamery, is opening up and offering FREE cones to the first one hundred customers.  Well, I would have done exactly what the children did, although I don’t think I could run as fast as they can.  The problem is that everyone else wants the free treats; luckily the children meet up with Dotty, the daughter of the two owners and they manage to wangle their ices.  This is the start of a great friendship, especially between Dotty and Orinthia.  When  Pem and Pandora, Dotty’s mothers, announce that they are about to take part in an international Ice Cream competition called the “Golden Udder Award” and it is in Norway, things start to get exciting.  Together with Dotty and Orinthia (plus two cows called Fosse and Falaise)  the team head to Bergen on board their favourite ship the Mollusca, complete with their friend Mog.

This sounds like a really warm and cuddly story, but no, someone is out to destroy their chances of winning the competition and they find numerous problems are put in their way; culminating in the theft of the two cattle, without whom they would not have the right kind of milk for their Jam Roly-Poly Ice Cream.  Yet again Orinthia is called upon to use all her ingenuity to find out who is the enemy and then to make sure that the Two Scoops Creamery are able to take part in the competition.  Yet again we have a wonderful mix of adventure, intrigue and humour, with our heroes managing to lurch from one crisis to another, but always winning out in the end.  There are really strong theme around the concept of family and although our heroes have a very positive experience, we also get to see what happens when the wider family employs a moral blackmail in order to achieve their aims.

Image is from the official website, thank you to them for a superb photo.

What is so great is that we get to learn about Bergen and in particular its famous Funicular called the Floibanen, although I am still not sure how the enemy was able to undertake one of their activities.  You will have to read the book in order to find out!

At the beginning of this article I said I wished that I had taken this on holiday with me, and that is because I have been on a cruise to Norway, starting at Bergen.  The story brought back so many lovely memories, especially of the Funicular and the amazing views that you get from the top, but it also reminded me of the arrival into Bergen and the astounding scenery surrounding it.  Thank you Holly for creating such a wonderful story and for giving us an insight into the beauty of another country.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Author: Holly Rivers

Holly grew up in a real-life children’s book, playing the part of Drusilla in ITV’s The Worst Witch alongside Felicity Jones. She spent her childhood in Wales, wishing that she was Pippi Longstocking, and after graduating spent time working as an actor, broadcaster and cheese-seller, until one day she had the idea to pen a story about a tenacious young inventor named Demelza. Holly’s days are now spent penning new stories as well as leading drama, craft and bushcraft classes for children. She lives in Brighton with her girlfriend and still wishes that she was Pippi Longstocking.

 

Old Gods, New Tricks by Thiago Moraes

Like many people of my generation I grew up reading about the various mythologies that were common at the time.  These included Roman, Greek, Egyptian and Norse myths and gods, but what was missing were the mythologies of other parts of the world.  It was only when I became a teenager that I began to hear about South American, Asian, African and then American stories.  However, these are not myths that are widely known or written about and it is only in the last few years that people have felt able to write about their cultural beliefs and histories; or at least that is my perception, so I apologise if I am wrong about this.  I was delighted to read this wonderful story of the Trickster gods, a concept that seems to appear in so many mythologies but about whom I had little knowledge, apart from Loki who is a favourite character at the moment.

The main character, Trixie dos Santos definitely lives up to her name and as the story begins she is getting a final warning from her headteacher and is threatened with expulsion.  At that moment all electricity stops functioning and the world is without lights, computers and in fact anything that depends on this source of power.  As life becomes increasingly difficult for everyone, Trixie decides that it is the old gods who have taken the electricity away an she needs to find a way to trick them into giving it back; the answer is to get the trickster gods to help, something that is a huge challenge, even if she can get them to answer her pleas.  What follows is something of a roller-coaster ride as Trixie and her companions  follow the trail that will lead them to the other gods and hopefully success in giving electricity back to the world.

What a fabulous take on the world of myths and legends.  The trickster gods all have their own little quirks and a real sense of attitude, so that we really enjoy their antics and the interaction between them.  We also see these gods develop a real feeling of friendship with our young heroine, which means they start working together as an approximation to a team.  Trixie is a really feisty young girl who learns a lot through the adventures that she goes through.  There is a lot of growing up and an understanding that life does not always change in the ways you imagine when you start on a journey. The author is also a very talented artist and his illustrations for the book really focus on the wide ranging cultures that are represented; the black and white images really add to the overall sense of foreboding that we feel as the world begins to descend into darkness.  This story also highlights the dependence that this world has on the use of electricity. Even  for those of us who grew up without computers, mobile phones and other digital resources , it is still difficult to imagine going back to the days before this source was available.  In a real sense this book provides a call to look after our natural resources and not squander what we have.

Thiago de Moraes

I’ve been fascinated with myths and legends since I was a very young kid in Brazil. I was fortunate to grow up in a house where there were lots of books lying around, on all sorts of subjects. Most weren’t children’s books, but my parents didn’t mind me reading them, and that’s how I discovered a lot of the mythologies that still captivate me today. Since then, my curiosity and respect for these extraordinary worlds has only grown; I have read many other books, spoken to lots of people and tried to visit and experience as many sites from different cultures as I can.

The first book I remember becoming obsessed with as a child was a large, illustrated edition of ‘Lendas Africanas dos Orixás’*, by Pierre Verger. He was a photographer, anthropologist and ethnographer who studied the myths of the Yoruba people from Western Africa and their counterparts in the African diaspora in the Americas. It was a collection of legends of the Orisha, Yoruba deities, which I found both awesome and a quite frightening. That’s where I first met Exú, also known as Eshu, Elegba and many other names, the god of beginnings, crossroads, mischief and much more. He was the first trickster I thought about having in the book (as it’s his right) and a lot of the plot developed from his presence.

Loki, Maui and Sun Wukong are there for the same reason. I’ve known them for a long time, so I felt like they were old friends that I could invite to join in an adventure (much like Trixie, the book’s protagonist, does.) What attracts me to tricksters, beyond their rebellion and creative force, is how fun their stories are. Humour can sometimes be hard to find in myth, so these tales have always stuck with me. Finally, I learned of Huehuecóyotl (and countless other gods I hadn’t know about) whilst researching a non-fiction book I wrote called Myth Atlas, which features lots of stories from different societies.

All the cultures from which the trickster tales that inspired Old Gods New Tricks come from – Yoruba, Ancient Norse, Polynesian, Chinese and Aztec – are immensely rich and culturally complex. They’re also very different from each other; it’s impossible to sum up all the things that drew me to them, but a common aspect, which I was mesmerized by, is the sense of vitality we get from them. Even though they have deeper meanings and play important roles in religion and ritual, they are also brilliant stories, full of the wonder and confusion of life, and present us with worlds that, although supernatural, are also instantly familiar.

I hope that readers that enjoy Old Gods New Tricks will continue on their own adventures and discover more about these cultures, their myths and legends. There are lots of brilliant places to start, but few are better than your local library or bookshop.

*African Legends of the Orisha

Thank you Thiago for this insight into your work, it is totally fascinating and will hopefully inspire readers to look deeper into the characters you have used.

“Old Gods, New Tricks

David Fickling Books, 9781788452953, £7.99

My family and other Romans by Marie Basting and Flavia Sorrentino

What a fantastic mix of fantasy, mythology and fun.  I must admit that I had not really taken on board the term LARP (Live Action Role Play) until I read this book.  That is not to say that I was unaware of the concept, it is just that when I was involved in English Civil War re-enactment in the 1970s, such terms had not been invented.  I am sure that many people have been to this type of events, from medieval jousting to World War 2, but this specifically relates to seeing the Ermine Street Guard  and other groups, who research and perform re-enactments of  Romano-British  army events.  I had heard of Housesteads and the excavations that have been going on there, but I was surprised that the well known fort of Vindalanda is only a couple of miles away, so these are now on my “to visit” list.

This is the story of Silvia Fortuna Juno De Luca, or Livi to her friends.  She lives up near Hadrian’s Wall with her father, who is a fanatical role player; anything from Lord of the Rings to his favourite, the Romans.  Everyone is just getting ready for a major re-enactment at Housesteads Fort when some strange things start happening.  Worst of all her father suddenly disappears without a word.  What follows is like something out of a really bad dream; she can’t really be taken to ancient Romana can she?  Not only that but she finds that her ‘missing’ mother is actually the Roman Goddess Bellona; something that I would not want to admit to, having had a look online for a description, but it seems that her uncle Vulcan is behind her father’s disappearance.  When Livi is persuaded that the only way to save her father is to retrieve a golden arrow from Vulcan, she takes up the challenge.  Needless to say things are not quite as she believed and ‘someone’ may have been telling her some lies!  However, you can’t keep a good role player down and with the help of her friends and a lot of ingenuity she might find a way to save her father and halt the army that Bellona is trying to conquer Britannia (Britain) with.

Marie Basting  has given us a fabulously funny but historically correct look at the goings on in the area of Hadrian’s Wall.  What a brilliant idea to have Bellona producing offspring who are linked to Roman mythology; so there are Romulus and Remus, who are are descendants of Medusa and have serpentine hair (snakes alive!); Poly is a cyclops, Tiber is a centaur, Scylla is a sea creature and then finally there is Felix, he seems very ordinary, but manages to spring a surprise towards the end of the story.  All of the characters have very individual quirks and personalities and I particularly love Tiber, who is a surfer dude and Vulcan, who turns out to be something of a hippy.

Above all this is really a story about the real meaning of friendship, community and family.  It is a fantastical mix of mythology, dressing up and building strong relationships.  I do hope we can have a few more adventures with Livi and her family.  this is a truly delightful 5 star story.

 

The Author

When Marie Basting was fifteen, she was told by a careers advisor that girls like her don’t become writers. For a long time, she believed this. But then something magical happened and Marie finally came to realise that girls like her can do anything they want.

Marie lives in Manchester with her husband, son and a giant, hairy woo-dog called Polly. When she’s not writing or annoying her family, you’ll find her supporting other girls and boys to follow their writing dreams.  Princess BMX is her debut novel.

 

 

 

 

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/housesteads-roman-fort-hadrians-wall/

Call of the Titanic by Lindsay Galvin and Gordy Wright

I think it is fair to say that Lindsay Galvin is fast gaining a strong reputation for her historical writing; in which she sheds new light on people and events from the past.  Her book “Darwin’s Dragons” was particularly memorable and emotional, so I must admit to having high expectations of this new work.

Most people probably think that they know the story of the Titanic, whether it is from the film of the same name, or from one of the many documentary programmes that have been televised over the years.  Over the years I have been lucky enough to visit exhibitions about the ship, but of course the new Museum in Belfast really brings home the size and quality of the vessel.  All of this gives us a very objective view of the ship and the catastrophe, but what Lindsay Galvin does is bring us to the heart and soul of the story.

The story is told from two differing viewpoints and also following different time lines.  On one hand, we have a fictionalised account of the testimony of Sid Daniels, a 14 year old steward (although 18 years old in real life), who was the last member of the crew to be saved by the Carpathia. His part of the story is shown as if written as testimony on a manual typewriter  and it is fascinating to have this real sense that we are reading the original words.  What strikes me as surprising is the dates given to the government enquiry, it is only two weeks after the actual tragedy and I can’t imagine that would happen in our modern age.  What also surprised me was the living conditions for the third class passengers that Sid was looking after.  There is a perception that conditions for those lower down the ship were really atrocious, but what comes across here is that they were probably better off than they would have been back in their original homelands.

The other half of the story follows the ‘adventures of young Clara Scott (aged 12 years) who is accidentally locked in a trunk at the family farm and ends up on the Carpathia, where her cousin is the wireless operator Harold Cottam.  When she finally escapes from the trunk, she is in the ship’s hold and has a gigantic Newfoundland dog keeping her company.  What follows makes for an exciting adventure in its own right, but it is the sequence of events  which make this such a chilling and yet unstoppable read.  However the two stories eventually converge and the heroism shown that night becomes all too clear.

The author has made Clara the absolute centre of the story, with Sid and Rigel (the dog) coming in as a  close joint second.  At the beginning I was not sure what I felt about this young girl, as she is very strong minded and not prone to listening to others.  However, this is shown to be  beneficial, with her feisty and determined attitude overcoming the often bigoted attitudes of some of the crew and passengers.  Lindsay Galvin has managed to paint a vivid and chilling scenario for one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century.  It is one of those books that you just can’t stop reading, so start reading it early in the day!  As readers, we get a real sense of the research that has gone into the book and I found myself going off to check some details when I was reading.  Perhaps the most poignant aspect of this story is the way that the author is able to convey the reality of the ordinary people who were caught up in the events.  When major catastrophes take place we often forget about the ordinary people whose lives are devastated by what happens, but in this story the author has managed to bring these often unknown characters into the light.

This is one of those books where I feel that I am running out of superlatives, so it is probably best that I just finish by saying that everyone should read this book and it should find a home in every school and library.  This definitely gets 5 stars and probably deserves more.

 

The author Lindsay Galvin

“Lindsay was lucky enough to be raised in a house of stories, music, and love of the sea. She left part of her heart underwater after living and working in Thailand where she spent hundreds of blissful hours scuba diving. Forced now to surface for breath, she lives in sight of the chillier Sussex sea with her husband and two sons. When she is not writing, she can be found reading, running or practicing yoga. She has a degree in English Language and Literature, is fascinated by psychology and the natural world, and teaches Science. Lindsay hadn’t written creatively since childhood until the idea for her debut novel The Secret Deep splashed into her mind, and she now she’s hooked.”

Thank you to the Chicken House website for this biographical information.

Son of the Sea by Richard Pickard

It is always exciting to read a second book by an author, especially if you have really enjoyed their first book.  I was lucky enough to be part of the blog tour for Richard’s first book in August 2021 and he wrote a short entry for me, all about his influences and where he writes.  He spoke about the outline that he was writing for his second book, so it is fantastic to see all of his hard work come to fruition.  You can see this first blog entry  by searching”Peculiar tale of the Tentacle Boy

The hero in this story is called Caspar and he has a dream that he can swim the channel before his 12th birthday.  The only problem is that he is now more than 11 years old and his parents ban him from going anywhere near the water.  Despite this he finds ways of swimming, whether it is in the local ponds or even the water feature at the shopping centre.  However things are about to change dramatically; following a freak accident at the local supermarket both of Caspar’s parents end up in hospital (they were run over by a giant wheel of cheese!) and Caspar is sent to the seaside town of Corallium, where his unknown grandmother lives.  This is not the last of the surprises that he comes across in the next few days.  Corallium is the home of his absolute hero, Beryl the Bazooka and he not only meets her, but finds out that she was his grandma’s wife, until they fell out.  Then Caspar discovers that sea swimming is very different from being in a small pond and after he nearly drowns, Beryl volunteers to train him.  The record that Caspar is trying to break has stood for 60 years and every person under the age of 12 who has attempted the crossing, has been struck down by a ‘curse’; so will our hero overcome all the obstacles in his way?  With the help of his new friend Wynn, he is determined to follow his destiny.

Underpinning this whole story is the enormous secret that Caspar has been hiding for all of his life, as his parents are scared he will be treated as a freak; both of his feet are webbed, with skin between each of his toes.  The question is whether this has anything to do with the ancient legend that Corallium was once a city under the sea.  This is a story about keeping secrets and the impact that it can have on relationships and also how we feel about ourselves. This very much applies to the relationship between his grandmother Ida and Beryl, but it also is central to the way Caspar, his parents and grandma also interact.  We have a multilayered story where the events of the past still impact on the lives of people today and it is so sad to see that some characters are trying to hang on to past glories, rather than trying to support a new generation in their attempts.  The author has managed to combine both humour (in the guise of Wynn’s archaeologist father) and pathos, particularly when we see the anguish of those who have failed to achieve their dreams because of the so-called ‘curse’.  However, the ending is particularly uplifting and I gave a quiet cheer as people finally admitted to things they had kept hidden and then discovered that they were not alone, in fact they were part of a community that had been hiding in plain sight.  I have read this book twice and it is one of those enchanting stories that you know you will go back to in the future.  Congratulations to Richard on this lovely book.

 

https://www.richard-pickard.com/bio  to find out more about the author and his work.

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Chicken House; 1st edition (11 May 2023)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1913696726
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 9 – 12 years

Animal FACTopia by Julie Beer and Andy Smith

As a judge for the SLA Information Book Award and a librarian for a very long time, I am constantly being reminded of the changing face of information books.  This was re-inforced last weekend when I attended the Federation of Children’s Book Groups Conference.  One of the panels was discussing non-fiction and I was glad that one of the speakers  emphasized the fact that this type of book is not just about learning, it is also about ENJOYMENT.  That has become more noticeable in the range and style of book that we have been seeing emerge over the last decade or so.  I was delighted to be asked to take part in this blog tour because factual books tend to receive less attention than fiction, although I think this is gradually beginning to change.

The first thing to say is that this is a very bright, exuberant and attractive looking book and the size makes it very easy to handle and carry around.  The sub-title of the book tells us that it is a trail of 400 beastly facts covering a very wide range of creatures; it goes from bed bugs to whales and from dust mites to pygmy shrews an as we look at these creatures we follow the trail that links so many of their behaviours.  What we also have is a non-fiction version of the  write your own adventure stories; in this case we have dotted lines that lead us through the text, but then we are given the option to move backwards or forwards in the book, in order to get information that has a close link.

I particularly enjoy the combination of photographs and cartoons and as you can see from the images this is really suitable for Key stage 1 children and those less confident with their reading.  Whilst the text is short, it is also clear and the information is explained well.  One of the main element of this book is the brilliant sense of humour that flows throughout the book.  We have farting zebras, smelly opossums and my favourite the floating alligators;  this reminds me of a visit to a reserve in Florida where my son insisted that the alligator was a fake, only to find that it was very much alive several moments later.

Animal FACTOpia is the fourth in this series using this format.  It is one of these books that you could sit down and read from cover to cover, but I think I prefer the lucky dip approach, as just skimming through the book leads to the discovery of so many fascinating details.  For those who want to use this book as a research tool there is a somewhat unusual contents page, a very full index and a wide ranging list of organizations and online information.

 

Author: Julie Beer

Julie is an author and editor, who has written numerous children’s books on everything from national parks to space to her favourite subject of all – animals! Julie is based in California, USA.

Illustrator: Andy Smith

Andy is an award-winning illustrator, and studied illustration at the University of Brighton and the Royal College of Art, London. His work combines illustration and typography to create images that have humor, energy, and optimism executed with a handmade, hand-printed, tactile feel. He lives by the sea in Hastings, East Sussex, UK.

Woodwitch by Skye McKenna

Welbeck, 9781801300414

One of the highlights of 2022 was discovering the wonderful novel “Hedgewitch” by Skye McKenna.  In this we were introduced to the young Cassie Morgan and her discovery that she is part of a famous witch family and they welcome her into  a new home with them; a home that guards The Hedge, a wood that acts as a divide between this world and the world of faerie. This also starts her search for her mother, who disappeared years before   The only trouble with finding fantastic books is that it is difficult having to wait for any further adventures, but we have finally got the amazing second book in the series and I am delighted that I have been asked to take part in this blog tour.

Cassie has now settled to her life in the village of Hedgely, living with her Aunt Miranda and her two friends, Rue and Tabitha.  However things are still not straightforward and strange things start happening to people in the village; they appear to have been taken over by a spirit and are digging around, trying to find a mysterious treasure.  Mixed with this we have the arrival of an Irish witch called Aoife Early and then Carrie’s uncle arrives, bringing her cousin Sebastien to stay and it  is fair to say that the young man is less than happy at finding himself in a place without all of the modern amenities that he expects.

This is one of those multilayered stories where you have to stay focused on the varying strands of the story.  All of this adds to the mystery and the tension as the plot builds up to a very exciting climax.  There is a very satisfying blend of magic and reality, myth and legend, which the author has woven beautifully together.  It is really about family and feeling like an outsider, particularly when there is a lot of change. The dynamics between the various characters is fascinating and gives us a sense of what it is like to be a young person trying to understand what is going on around them.  There is also a sense that life is seen in black and white, without the multi- shaded elements that older people recognize, as they gain experience of the world.

One of the things that I love about Skye’s writing is her power of description.  There is a lyrical quality that draws the reader in and gives a sense of tranquility , calm and well-being, whether it is describing a special type of tea or or the trees in the Hedge.  However she can also use this skill to heighten tension and frighten us as we face some of the servants of the Erl King (the King of Faerie).  Her ability to change mood in the space of a few words means that the reader is constantly on their toes, waiting for the next situation to occur.  I must mention the illustrators for the cover and the two representations of the village and the main street, these add an additional layer to our understanding of the world the story is set in and allows us to follow the journeys that the girls go on as they try to solve the mysteries they find.

This is a delight of a book which I think has even surpassed the original tale, it is definitely worth five stars at least.  I can’t wait for the third book to appear in 2024 hopefully.  This book tells us that the title appears to be “Seawitch”, so I am going to spend the next year or so in eager anticipation of yet more adventures.

Portrait photography

Author

Skye McKenna grew up in a mining town in the Australian outback. Surrounded by the red dust of the Pilbara, she developed a healthy respect for wild things and wild places at a young age. Seeking adventures of her own, she travelled to the UK and fell in love with the British countryside.  Skye now lives in Scotland and works for a heritage charity, with whom she recently curated an exhibition on medieval magic. When she’s not reading and writing, she goes looking for stories in the hills and forests of her new home.

(Thanks to Skye and Welbeck for this information)

Into the Faerie Hill by H S Norup

I first discovered the work of H S Norup when I was asked to review her last book “The Hungry ghost”, so I was particularly excited when I was asked to join in with this blog tour.  I have to say that her writing just keeps getting better , with its ability to immerse the reader in the scenery and atmosphere of the surroundings.

When Alfred moves to stay with his Granny, it is because his father (a civil engineer) is involved in building a road tunnel under the local hill.  As with so many projects like this, there is a lot of local disagreement , mainly around the themes of environment; however there might be some other reasons for not wanting this destruction of the hill area.  Alfred has spent most of his childhood moving to different countries with his father’s work, because his mother had died when he was young.  Returning to his Granny’s home, after a gap of five years,  he is surrounded by feelings of darkness and has the disturbing thought that he can see small faerie type creatures.  It is only when he meets his neighbour, Saga, that he discovers that they can both see these creatures and he begins to understand what a road tunnel could mean to the magical inhabitants of the area.  The children find themselves becoming heavily involved in the fight to prevent the building, but at the same time they are having to deal with the magical world and the dangers that it could  bring to their families.

This really is a fabulous story about the meeting of two worlds; one of them is our own and the other is the magical world of folk lore and myths.  The author has set the action in a scenario that many of us can understand; my own village is due to start on the building of a new bypass after a wait of over 50 years since it was first mooted, luckily our own ‘faerie’ hill is not affected, but I can  really understand the issues that people would worry about.  However the thing that really comes across is the need to understand and cherish the nature that surrounds us.  The world is changing at a rate that could only be imagined  (as a nightmare possibly) when I was a child, however, we need to understand that nature is something that we all need for our physical and mental well-being.

Beyond all of this, it is the story of a young boy who desperately wants to understand what has happened to his mother.  As the story unfolds, he discovers that he has not been told the whole truth and that the reality is stranger than he could imagine.  This really is a very special book and one that will totally enthrall the reader, with its mix of magic and reality.  Thank you so much for allowing me to join in the celebration of this launch and I know that it will be a firm favourite.  A great five-star start to the year.

Author bio:

H. S. Norup is the author of The Hungry Ghost and The Missing Barbegazi—a Sunday Times Book of the Year in 2018. Originally from Denmark, she has lived in six different countries and now resides in Switzerland with her husband and two teenage sons. She has a Master’s degree in Economics and Business Administration and sixteen years’ experience in corporate marketing strategy and communications. When she’s not writing or reading, she spends her time outdoors either skiing, hiking, walking, golfing or taking photos.

Thank you to the author for the author information and the photograph that she has made available on her website https://www.hsnorup.com/