witches

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The world of Ivy Newt by Derek Keilty and Magda Brol

The allure of books about witches is something that is still attracting thousands of young readers.  The sub-genre is one that has fans from the very earliest age, with stories about ‘Meg and Mog‘ and ‘Winnie the Witch‘.  However it is that slightly older age range, where they are just gaining confidence in their reading, where witches have become something of a favourite.  Most children will come across series such as “Witch Wars“, “The Worst Witch” and “Diary of an Accidental Witch“, but these are still quite difficult for some readers.  However, this new series by Derek Keilty is a perfect bridge between the age ranges.

Scallywag Press, 9781915252180

I have been a fan of Derek’s work for a few years now and have followed him from the magical wild west, through pirate adventures and now into the world of witches.  There are two books in the series, so far and they are both a delight. The first book is called “Ivy Newt and the Storm Witch” and introduces us to the intrepid heroine of the books.  Ivy is the daughter of the King and Queen of the Sand Witches (yes it has lot of this kind of humour!) and she is just about to celebrate her birthday, but a violent storm means none of her friends can attend.  However, her parents have a prepared a spectacular piece of magic, where they both disappear; the problem is that they don’t re-appear.  Luckily Ivy and her ‘familiar’ Tom (part human and part wolf), are made of stern stuff and start out on a mission to find and rescue her parents.  After many trials and tribulations they finally reach the cave home of  Clawdelia Thorn, Queen of Grotland,  a true villain who has ambitions to take over other kingdoms.  Of course she gets her comeuppance and Ivy manages to save the day.

Scallywag Press, 9781915252333

The second book in the series is called “Ivy Newt and the Time Thief” and is set at Halloween, a special time for all witches, but it is especially important at Newt Castle as a every year a mysterious house appears, for one day only, and then disappears for the rest of the year.  Ivy and Tom are typically inquisitive children and decide that they have to know whether the building is a phantom or real.  What they find is a grumpy old witch called Meg, who had a spell cast on her for stealing a clock belonging to a very nasty sorcerer.  In order to break the spell, Ivy will have to find someone to mend the clock before midnight, which of course sends her on a quest to solve the problem.  As always we have a very satisfactory outcome to the story but it is the reason behind the original disagreement that give us all pause to consider how our word and actions can be interpreted by others.

This is a truly delightful series of books for those who are just gaining confidence in their reading. The stories themselves are enhanced by the magical illustrations of Magda Brol. Ivy is an adventurous young person and her friend/familiar Tom is a strong balance to her.  Together they form a great team, one that usually thinks its way through difficult situations.  In the second story I particularly felt for  Meg and the Sorcerer as we discover that one small moment of misunderstanding has lead to years of anger and regret; it really is a lesson for all of us, one where we need to be more concise about comments that we make.  This is highly recommended and I can’t wait for more adventures from this wonderful duo.

About

Derek Keilty lives in Belfast. Author of over ten books for children and shortlisted for the Children’s Books Ireland Book of the Year, Derek takes storytelling and creative writing workshops to local schools.

Magda Brol was born in Wroclaw, Poland, and now lives in South London. Her books include When Crocodiles Came Town, Story Time, The Great Hamster Getaway and Pirates Don’t go to School.

Scallywag Press launched in 2019. Their books have won and been shortlisted for many awards and translated into over 15 languages. They love distinctive, amusing and quirky art, and publish talented newcomers and established book creators. Three times short listed for The Bookseller Small Press of the Year, and Youth Libraries Group Publisher of the Year 2022.

 

Meg and Mog series                 Helen Nicoll and Jan Pienkowski                          Puffin

Winnie the Witch series               Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul                         OUP

Witch Wars                                     Sibeal Pounder and Laura Ellen Anderson      Bloomsbury

The Worst Witch                           Jill Murphy                                                               Puffin

Diary of an Accidental Witch    Honor and Perdita Cargill and Katie Saunders     Stripes

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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)

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Autumn Moonbeam: Dance magic ! by Emma Finlayson-Palmer and Heidi Cannon

Uclan, 9781912979769

It is so delightful to see the growth in the number and quality of books for the younger reader.  There was a time when it felt as if it was only reading schemes that were available.  thankfully this is no longer the case.

This is the first in a series of stories featuring the young witch Autumn Moonbeam and her love of all things to do with dancing.  This young heroine really want to make a success of her dancing, but she is unfortunately one of those people who are always accident prone.  she hopes that she will eventually make it big and her real wish is to be accepted into a dance team.  When her friend Leif, who attends Sparkledale Dance Academy, brings a flyer into school, Autumn gets very excited; the Academy is about to hold trials for young people to try out for their competitive dance team, The Black Cats.  However, Autumn’s nasty neighbour Severina is also determined to make the team and she is willing to go to great lengths to achieve her end, even putting a spell on Autumn that turns her into a black cat.  The question is, will our heroine achieve her dream?

What a delightful story that will really resonate with so many young children.  The characters are at that age where they are wanting to branch out and do things, but they are also very vulnerable and worried about whether they can fulfill their dreams.  It is great to see a story where the friends and adults are all very supportive and even the ‘nasty’ Severina is made to understand the consequences of her behaviour and starts to mend her ways.  It is a great read for fans of series such as Amelia Fang and Leonora Bolt.

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Hedgewitch by Skye McKenna and Tomislav Tomic

I admit to really loving books about magic, witches, and the mythology surrounding the Fae folk.  This belief in the fairy people has its roots in Celtic myths, as far as I know and you can forget any thoughts of pretty little fairies with tinsel and wings.  The characters in this story are human sized, powerful and have a very strong dislike for humans, although they have a fondness for young children and often kidnap them.  In the land of fae there are also creatures ranging from goblins to pookhas, all of which are a danger or at least an irritation to the human world.

Cassandra, or Cassie Morgan has been at the really awful Fowell House School for seven years, ever since her mother left her there at the age of five.  When she is told that her mother has been declared officially dead, she does not believe it and runs away, to avoid being sent to an orphanage.  But that is when things become very strange; firstly she is attacked by six very small men and then she is saved by a talking cat (yes, really!) and a flying broomstick.  The cat, Montague, tells Cassie that he has been sent by her unknown Aunt Miranda, to bring Cassie to the family home and when she arrives she discovers a world that she had dreamt about, but had not really believed existed.

Aunt Miranda is a witch, as are some of the locals in the village of Hedgely and her duty is to protect the ‘Hedge’, a dense wood that creates a barrier between the human and faery worlds.  It seems that creatures are trying to break through the barrier and they have been stealing children to take them back to sell to the ‘Lords and Ladies’ as the Fae are called.  Cassie finds that life has become very complicated; not only is she is starting lessons at the witch version of the girl guides, trying to navigate between several friends and getting to know her new family, but above all she is trying to find clues about her mother’s disappearance.  As you can see from the brilliant map, this is a small and tightly knit community, but it is still wonderful to be able to visualize it in this way.  There are also some marvellous illustrations throughout the book.

This is a truly fantastic story of witchcraft and magic, mixed with that slightly dark version of Celtic mythology.  Cassie is one of those characters that you can’t help but like, even though as an adult I find her very frustrating at times.   The friction between her and her aunt  is caused by the difference in the way they see the world.  Cassie, like many young people sees the world in fairly straightforward terms, unlike her aunt, who has learnt that there are all kinds of nuances and you often need to tread carefully.  Mixed with the search for the missing children and mother we also have multi-layers of friction between individuals and witch families.  You can see that there are echoes of other stories featuring young witches, but of course it is what the author does with the story that makes all the difference.  I first read this story in preparation for attending the Federation of Children’s Book groups’ Conference last month; as you can see from the photos, I had the pleasure of meeting Skye, as she launched her book with a selection of cakes.  I have now re-read the book ready for this blog and I am really delighted to say that the book is even better the second time around.  We are treated to adventure, intrigue, family and some fascinating characters, although I think that my favourite is that cat with attitude, Montague; he has that hint of sarcasm in his comments and yet we feel that he would do anything for the Morgan family.

This is one of those books that you give 10 out of 10, or even 5 stars, but if you bring it all to a basic level then this is a brilliant read and I can’t wait for the follow up, “WoodWitch” due to be published in April 2023.  It is a must have for any lover of fantasy stories.

 

The 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.

Hedgewitch is Skye’s first novel.
For further information, images please contact Lorraine Keating
Head of Children’s Marketing and Publicity at lorraine.keating@welbeckpublishing.com
@KidsWelbeck @WelbeckKids

Cover illustration  Saara Katariina Soderlund

Interior illustrations   Tomislav Tomic

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The Ghost of Scarletbeard (Flyntlock Bones) by Derek Keilty and Mark Elvins

I have previously reviewed the last Flyntlock Bones adventure and you can read it in this blog.  This is a brilliantly funny story that is going to enchant young readers and which is perfect to promote for “Read like a Pirate” day, later in the year.  Children are introduced to pirates at a very young age, but there has often been a gap for those who are just starting to read so called ‘chapter books’, so it is wonderful to find this gap being filled  by such a lovable hero, together with his rather idiosyncratic friends.

Scallywag Press, 9781912650774

Flyntlock Bones, aka Flynn, is the cabin boy aboard the ex-pirate ship The Black Hound.  Captain Long John Watkins and his motley crew have changed over a new leaf and now work as ‘recoverers of treasure’.  However they are currently having a bit of a slump in business and are quickly running out of funds.  Luckily  they receive a last minute call from a previous client, the Countess of Bohemia.  It seems that her jewels have been stolen yet again and she want the Captain and his crew to retrieve them for the second time.  The only problem is that she swears that it is the same thief as before, who has stolen the treasure;  unfortunately Captain Scarletbeard and his ship were sunk in the last theft!  This leave only one possibility, that the pirate is back from the grave and out for revenge.  Flynn and the rest of the crew face a hazardous journey down to Davy Jones’ Locker to see whether they are right.  What they discover sends a shiver down their backs, as the nefarious pirate is back in business and he seems to have a new partner, in the person of a witch called Molly Macbeth.  It seems the two of them are planning a heist to steal the crown jewels from the Floating Palace of Zora; the question is whether the crew of the Black Hound can stop them and send Scarletbeard back to his watery resting place?

Whilst this is a fantastic rip-roaring tale of adventure it also has a range of more subtle themes going on.  The relationships between the main characters is all about caring for others, but mostly about accepting people for themselves.  We are given a range of characters, most of who have a change of heart about the lifestyle that they have chosen in the past.  Above all, we have a tale full of laughter and fun, where only the really nasty villains get their comeuppance and everyone else finds their perfect place in life.  Once again  this author has given us a book that will thrill the audience and persuade many of them that they want to be pirates (at least for a day).  The illustrations are once again a perfect match for the story and are going to attract the young reader who is just becoming a more confident reader.

 

Author

Derek Keilty is an Irish author and lives in Belfast.  He has written more than 10 books for children.  His Will Gallows series was previously short listed for the Irish Children’s Book Prize and has been optioned for a film.

Illustrator

Mark Elvins lives in Yorkshire and is a print-maker.

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Feast of the Evernight by Ross McKenzie

I absolutely loved the first book in the series, “Evernight” when it reached our shelves in early 2020.  It introduced us to a new world that we very quickly became engrossed in.  I was already a fan of the author, Ross Mackenzie through his series about the “Nowhere Emporium” and was delighted by this strange new world that he presented us with.  The main characters are the young girl Lara(belle) Fox and her friend Joe; both of them are Toshers and much like the ones in Victorian London, they make a living finding lost items in the sewer below the city of  King’s Haven.  When the country is threatened by the Everdark and the evil Mrs Hester, together with the Silver King, who rules the land, they link up with the Westerly Witches in an attempt to thwart their evil plans.  At the end of this book we get the impression that Mrs Hester has been eliminated and that a greater freedom is starting to seem possible for the general population.  But  is everything really better?

In this second book we find ourselves nearly a year further on in time; Lara has just passed her test and become a Witch, whilst Joe is getting over the death of his grandmother, as well as feeling rather out of place in the magical environment.  He decides to return to King’s Haven and the world that he knows, but he is asked to meet up with Rob, a ‘resistance’ worker, in order to carry out a secret mission.  At the same time Lara is also sent south, to work with another Witch and find out what has caused several mysterious deaths.  The friends make the first part of the journey together and end up helping a young girl, who is showing startling signs of  ‘out of control’ magic.  We have two parallel stories going on throughout the book, but we gradually come to understand that they are linked and that there are some deeply evil minds trying to destroy the witches and keep the population under their control.

This is an absolutely brilliant book and a worthy successor to the first in the series and whilst I am sure that people can dive straight in to this book, I think it is better to have read the first book, so that you are totally immersed in the world.  The cast of characters may be quite familiar, but they are having to cope with increasing danger and a whole range of villains. We see the young people mature as they have to cope with the terrifying events that surround them.  Luckily they have strong friendship bonds that give them the strength to carry on, despite the dangers.  I absolutely love the way that the author has created a world that is so different from our own and yet it is one that we can believe in.  The action is fast paced and at times quite hard hitting;  the author is not afraid to show that death can be a consequence of standing up to the evil that the heroes face.    The atmosphere really sparks the imagination and I can see the book being used in school  to encourage activities from writing and drawing, to music and drama.     It is yet another fabulous read for the older ‘middle grade’ reader and I know it will become yet another firm favourite not only in the home, but also in the classroom.  This is definitely a five star story.

 

Author Information

Contact: rossmacauthor@gmail.com

Local authority: Renfrewshire

Languages: English

19/10/18 . The Sunday Post, by Andrew Cawley.
Pics of staff designer Ross MacKenzie, who has written a children’s book. Location: Skypark, Glasgow.

Author type: Writer
I am a multi award-winning author of books for children, including The Nowhere Emporium, which won both the Blue Peter Book Award and Scottish Children’s Book Award.Stories have always been important to me. I can remember vividly how I felt as a child, curled up in bed, eager to set off on the next great adventure. I became a writer for children because I love the magic of great stories and my dream is that readers will one day feel the same way about my books.I regularly visit primary schools, libraries and literary festivals where I read from my books, discuss the power of stories and imagination, and hold Q&A sessions and writing workshops. I live in Renfrew with my lovely wife and two beautiful daughters – though I spend much of my time exploring other worlds.

thank you to Scottish Book Trust, who host this information

 

 

 

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The Eye of Mogdrod by Derek Keilty and Mark Elvins

There is something quite fascinating about pirates and even ex-pirates; the stories have been sparking  the imagination of readers both young and old for many years.  As a child my first encounter with the idea was watching episodes of ‘Captain Pugwash’ on the television and then later on discovering the wonders of ‘Treasure Island’.  If I thought really hard about it, I am sure that there were other pirates in books, but I definitely remember those to be found in the swashbuckling adventures of actors such as Errol Flynn and Burt Lancaster; Sunday afternoon was full of old films that kept us happy on a cold winter’s day.  Today we have the whole range of films such as ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ and ‘The Goonies’, as well as a host of books for all ages.  As a librarian for a School Library Service I was constantly being asked for collections of titles about pirates and whilst there are lot of amazing titles about real-life buccaneers, it is also fantastic to be able to create imaginary worlds with a wide range of characters.  This would definitely have been part of my collection at work..

Flyntlock Bones is the unlikely hero of this series for all serious wannabee pirates.  He is the cabin boy aboard the vessel “The Black Hound” , but the crew are not what you might expect.  They are all ex-pirates and have become ‘Pirate Investigators’ who help retrieve stolen treasure.  This second adventure sees them asked to retrieve a precious gold goblet that has been stolen from Fergus McSwaggers, the chief of one of the clans in the Boglands; the only problem is that he is the brother of the cook on board the ‘Black Hound’ and they have not spoken for quite a while.  The plot deepens as they try and discover who has stolen the goblet.  The consensus is that it was probably a giant cat-like creature called the Mogdrod, that is feared but rarely seen and is said to love shiny things.  When Flyntlock, his friend Red and the rest of the crew are captured by Gretel the Sea Witch, they discover that Mogdrod is her ‘Kitty’ and that she had taken the goblet.  To further complicate the story, the treasure is then taken by the Ice Pirates and it is up to the crew to rescue it again.

This is a fantastic and very funny story for the young reader, who is just growing in confidence.  The author has this real ability to make even the most fantastic of stories seem real.  His previous series about an elfling sky cowboy called Will Gallows has been a favourite of mine for a few years now.  As you can see from the images, Mark Elvin has produced the most amazing illustrations that bring the story to life and which are so intricate that the reader can spend quite a bit of time working their way through all of the detail.

I was delighted to be asked to join in the celebrations for the launch of this brilliant book and I look forward to reading further adventures in the future.

If you love this story as much as I did, why not read some more pirate adventures and take part on “Talk Like a Pirate day” on Sunday 19th September this year.

 

Derek Keilty

Meet the author

Derek KeiltyDerek Keilty lives in Belfast and is the author of over ten books for children. His work has been translated into many different languages, selected for the Richard and Judy Club and shortlisted for the Children’s Books Ireland Book of the Year.

 

Mark Elvins Personal website

Derek KeiltyMark Elvins lives in Yorkshire. When he’s not drawing pirates he’s a print-maker and recently won an English Heritage competition to illustrate the displays at Whitby Abbey.

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Morgana Mage in the Robotic Age by Amy Bond

What a really great concept for a story.  The heroine, Morgana is a witch and lives in a world that has divided into the magical community and the non-magic; the latter have become a highly technical society and robots are used in order to do all of the more menial tasks in life.  The main problem is the absolute dislike that the two societies have for each other, it really is a case of “Ne’er the twain shall meet”.  The only reason that the magical community visits the city is to get supplies from the small magical community, who live in the ‘undercity’ and are looked down on by the non-magic.  Morgana is definitely different and has a fascination for robots; her magical abilities are nearly non-existent and she really wants to go to school.  When her father takes her on one of his trip to the city she is delighted and together with her friend Esther she makes several secret visits to the metropolis.  A turning point comes when school inspectors arrive in the village and she demands that she be allowed to attend school, something unheard of in the past.  The consequences not only put her at odds with her community, but it also puts her life at risk, when she and her new friend Jonathan find that robots have been changed and are ready to take over the world.

Isaac Asimov’s laws of robotics were first written down in 1942 in a short story called “Runaround” and state:

  1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
  2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
  3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws

We are now living in a world where robots and specifically Artificial Intelligence are getting closer to having independent thought, something that this book actually addresses as we discover the importance of empathy, understanding and balance, both in the human and in the hi-tech world.  This book is full of so many issues that the young characters have to come to terms with, but we realise that the adults are the ones who really need to change their views; they need to be more flexible in the way they treat those with different beliefs.  It really is a message that needs to be passed on in as many ways as possible, particularly at the moment.

Although the underlying messages are quite serious there is still room for a lot of action and adventure and I am sure that everyone will love ‘kitty’ the robotic kitten that Morgana finds and repairs and which becomes her version of a ‘familiar’.  Overall this book is an absolute joy with its amazing mix of lifestyles.  It will open children to the possibility of creating their own world where just about anything is possible, but where actions have consequences.  What a stunning way to start the New Year!  On top of all this, the author is a Librarian, I am so happy!!

 

My Journey to Publication by Amy Bond

I had started books before, but abandoned them not far into the story. One I had finished, but once I had gotten to the end of the first draft, I wasn’t sure what to do with the mess of words and tangle of plot. The first draft of Morgana Mage in the Robotic Age wasn’t any neater, but perhaps I saw more potential, or had just learnt more discipline in the intervening years. I began to rewrite it, and rewrite it, and rewrite it until, at last, I could see some hope for it.

This hope was dashed, repeatedly, once I began to submit it to agents. There were a couple of manuscript requests among the rejection, which momentarily raised expectations, only to be brought down again. Some of their kind advice did help me finesse my work some more. All the time I had been keeping an eye out on the opening of the Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition. I had followed it the past couple of years as I tinkered away on my book. It seemed such a magical prospect, that you could send in your work and come away with a book deal from such a renowned publisher. Though I wasn’t feeling too optimistic at the time I entered, I reminded myself to be proud to have even got so far as to have something book shaped enough to submit.

It was coming to the end of the day in the office when I got the call to say I had made the longlist. It genuinely felt like a dream. I missed the call to say I had made the shortlist, but given the embarrassing squealing and dancing around my bedroom that took place listening to the voicemail, I am glad I wasn’t actually on the phone to Barry Cunningham, Chicken House’s Publisher. The announcement day in London is still a bit of a blur in my head, and while I didn’t come away with the book deal, I had some solid feedback from the judges and a new confidence in my writing. I got back to work.

Chicken House had kindly said that I could send them on any improved manuscript, so I did. I didn’t really think much would come of it, but no harm would come of it at least, and maybe some more feedback. I had to read the publication offer email several times before I let myself get too excited. Perhaps I had misunderstood. But no, I was going to have my book published.

A lot more work and writing, doubt and belief have followed this. A COVID-19 induced delay pushed the reality further into the distance. But it is really happening. I have held my own book, and it was just as amazing a moment as I had anticipated. The only thing more wonderful is to imagine it in the hands of children soon.

MORGANA MAGE IN THE ROBOTIC AGE by Amy Bond is out now, priced £6.99. Follow Amy on Twitter: @amylouisebond

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The Marvellous Land of Snergs by Veronica Cossanteli and Melissa Castrillon

 

When you read that a book was instrumental in giving J R.R Tolkien the inspiration for his Hobbits, then it is time to get excited.  The plot of the story is similar to frameworks that we have become used to over the last decades.  The two main characters Pip and Flora are orphans and both find themselves living in a somewhat unusual orphanage.  The owner, Miss Watkyns, is strict but the children are well looked after.  However when a strange woman tries to kidnap Flora, the two children decide to run away and hide.  They then accidentally pass through a magical door and find themselves in the land of the Snergs; these are small rather round individuals who have a love of eating cake and other sweet things.   Our first introduction to these characters is through the person of Gorbo, who ends up being central to the whole story and  helps the children navigate the strange world they find themselves in.  The children soon discover that Flora is the target of a rather nasty witch called Mrs Meldrum, but the reason for this is unclear; however she turns out to be the same person who had tried to kidnap Flora at the beginning of the story. How they solve the mystery and save themselves and others from a terrible fate makes for a really tremendous adventure.

This is a story that can be read by confident readers from 7 years and up.  The text has a generous font size, which makes for easy reading and children will feel as if they are really achieving something as they read the book.  The story is divided into sections with a brief explanation show at the beginning and this then divides into several short chapters, which would be great for bedtime reading, or for reading in class.  The illustrations add to the charm of the book and have a delightful naivety that harks back to the period between the wars.

This retelling is based on the original story by E A Wyke-Smith (1871 – 1935), which was written in 1927.  The original version of the book is still in print and it is still possible to buy  both an audio and e-book version.  The original author would have appeared to be a bit of an adventurer in his youth but he started writing children’s books after World War I, perhaps as a respite from the horrors of war.  the original book has been written with a slightly older audience in mind and the text is much fuller, with quite long sections of description and explanation.  However it would be a great choice for avid readers who want to see how a story can have more than one way of being told.

I am delighted that this story has found a new audience for our modern times.  It was not a title that I had come across before but it does go to show that a good story remains just that, even if the writing style changes through time.

 

About Veronica Cossanteli

“Veronica grew up in Hampshire and Hong Kong with an assortment of animals, including an imaginary pet dinosaur who slept on her bed. She works in a primary school in Southampton, where she lives with three cats, two snakes, one guinea pig and a large number of lizards.

Her debut novel The Extincts is a wonderfully funny and charming adventure with more than a hint of Dahl.” thanks to the Chicken House website for this information.

Melissa Castrillon

Melissa is a freelance illustrator who works for a variety of publishers.  She studied at Cambridge School of Art and gained an MA in Children’s Book Illustration.  She still lives in Cambridge.