Junior Reviews

The Eight Year Old Legend by Isabel Wyatt
  •  
  • The stories in this collection are from tales told by the Buddha to his monks, 2,500 years ago. They are a welcome change from the more traditional stories we hear, and suitable for a child of eight plus to read to themselves or for a younger child to understand if they are listening to the stories.
  • The tales are refreshingly uncomplicated, unlike many stories from the east, while keeping the readers interest. The language is straightforward with just enough flowery touches to give the feel of ancient times. Each story touches on some aspect of human nature, and is dealt with in an interesting, and sometimes magical, way. They are gentle stories, which spare one the worry of searching through a collection of such stories to avoid ones on the gruesome side or ones with violent endings. They are a satisfying length too for children of this age or for bedtime reading. The usual ingredients of legends are there – kings, animals, princesses but many of the stories have a different slant e.g. a king who learned the secret of being able to talk to animals from his sage.
  • It is a shame there are no colour illustrations in the book as the stories lend themselves so well to colour. Apart from the front cover the pictures, though apt, are in tones of grey. At the price it would have been good to enjoy just one or two. However I would still recommend this book for a child or parent to buy.
  • Reviewed by Margaret Nash
  •  
  • Author: Isabel Wyatt
  • Illustrator: Catriona Chapman
  • Publisher: Floris Books
  • Edition: Paperback Original
  • Price: £8.99
  • ISBN: 9780863157134

 

Wilma Tenderfoot and The Case of The Frozen Hearts by Emma Kennedy
  •  
  • Wilma Tenderfoot is a ten year old orphan with two ambitions in life: to find out where she came from and how she ended up in the terrible orphanage and to prove to her detective hero that she could be a good detective.
  • Readers can tell from the first page that there will be a lot of laughs in this story, in fact from the first sentence. "Wilma Tenderfoot wasn't sure how she'd managed it but somehow she was hanging upside down from a meathook in the pantry." All the characters in the story are entertaining including the villains, and naturally, the situations in which Wilma finds herself. The story is sufficiently "disgusting" to attract young readers who might not usually be interested in reading. Some of Wilma's chores providing some of the ‚"yuckiest moments", for example, plucking the hairs from her employer's chin, scraping the scabs from her elbows or removing bogies from her nostrils!
  • The period setting is not clear but seems to be vaguely Victorian, horse and cart transport for instance and servants. The illustrations don't really give us clues either but this doesn't really detract from the story. The illustrations are black and white cartoon style pictures which are also very amusing.
  • There are one or two moments of violence, one of them involving torture. They are mildly disturbing in that this is a children's book but they are cleverly written so as to be amusing and there is certainly more serious violence depicted in other media! I do have one slight criticism in that the middle of the story seems to "plunge" under the "weight" of rather too much detail, however the pace soon picks up again.
  • At the end of the story, after managing escapes from dangerous situations, Wilma achieves one of her ambitions. More stories to follow and maybe she will achieve the other!
  • Reviewed by Pat Almond
  •  
  • author: Emma Kennedy
  • illustrator: Sylvain Marc
  • publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
  • price: £5.99
  • ISBN: 978033046951

 

Jack Slater and the Whisper of Doom by John Dougherty
  •  
  • Does your child have monsters under the bed? If so, call Jack Slater. He is the monster eradicator who will sort them out. He uses the instruments of torchlight (to dispel the mystery) and transitional objects such as soft toys, which help the victim transit from terror to confidence. A boy named Sunil has monsters in his wardrobe. Unusually they have lurked around for three days on end. Jack and his assistant, a feisty girl named Cherry Jackson, are required to tackle the problem. In conversation with the routine monsters inhabiting the wardrobe, they learn that a much more dire species of monster inhabit an area known as the Dark Depths. A rupture has occurred in the walls that isolate the Dark Depths and the worst of the monsters have escaped. It's up to Jack and Cherry to venture into the Dark Depths, close the breach and restore normal service.
  • Dougherty strikes two chilling psychological blows as the story unfolds. In the Dark Depths, Jack and Cherry observe one particularly malign monster. By chance Jack has witnessed a history assembly for older children illustrated by film clips. He recognizes the monster as Adolf Hitler. Secondly, every monster is fabricated out of the fears of one particular child, known as that monster's source child. Meeting the source child will make a monster immeasurably more powerful and dangerous. The evil genius's source child is - guess who? - Jack.
  • The novel is fast paced and action-packed but it is not as simple as it first appears. There is intertextuality with Judith Kerr's When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit which Dougherty uses to great effect. The monsters behave in ways that lend themselves to psychological explanation, which a mediating adult could use as an educational vehicle. Lest you think an eight year-old would never pick this up, to please young readers there is a walking nose and a talking puffball.
  • The Dutch illustrator Georgien Overwater provides quirky black and white childlike illustrations at regular intervals.
  • Reviewed by Rebecca Butler
  •  
  • author : John Dougherty
  • illustrator : Georgien Overwater
  • publisher : Young Corgi
  • edition : Paperback
  • price : £4.99
  • ISBN : 9780552558051

 

Tom Fletcher and the Three Wise Men by Sarah Matthias
  •  
  • This novel is the second about the adventures of Tom Fletcher, a trainee monk in a 13th century monastery who has a talent for solving murders. In Tom Fletcher and the Angel of Death, Sarah Matthias introduced the teenage Tom and his fellow novices at St. Wilfrid's monastery, along with his friend Bessie, a miller's daughter, and the various inhabitants of St Agnes-next-the-sea. We saw Tom tackling the case of the murder of the Abbot when he was convinced that the wrong man had been imprisoned for the crime. The murder mystery plot of the first book was gripping, but there is more a tense, thrilling and fast-paced feel to this book. I think the two reasons for this are firstly that the action takes place in London, a world of crime and treachery in the middle ages and very different to Tom's village home, and secondly that this time Tom is on the run and implicated in the crime - he must solve it in order to stay alive.
  • The story picks up a few months after the first book ended. Tom is struggling with the decision to take his vows and Bessie is faced with the awful prospect of being married off to a fat, lecherous Baron old enough to be her grandfather. After deciding to run away together, Tom and Bessie become accidental stowaways on a ship conveying a stolen religious relic to London. Upon arriving in the city they are separated and must find each other in the strange and dangerous alleyways, all the while becoming caught up in a trail of deceit and murder all leading to the mysterious relic.
  • That Sarah Matthias knows her readers enjoy the gruesome and gory side of history is clear from the first scene in London. The body of a strangled monk is found floating in the Thames at the 'Dead Man's Steps'. The realistic physical details of bodies, smells and dirt will appeal to readers who want to imagine what it was really like to live in the middle ages. All historical details, such as food, clothes, customs and language have clearly been researched in depth. This is also clear from Matthias' website which includes her authentic recipe for Stuffed Great Bustard in an Eel Sauce, a typical medieval Christmas dish, and various other recipes and remedies. Her books will appeal to fans of the Horrible Histories series because they tell them the things they really want to know about, rather than presenting the past as a dry list of dates and battles.
  • The attention to historical detail never gets in the way of the plot but gives a realistic and vivid background to the story. This is helped by Tom and Bessie being likeable, ordinary teenagers that the reader can relate to. They may have extraordinary experiences like being kidnapped, solving murders or being thrown in Newgate prison, but we also see them dealing with common teenage problems like getting spots, deciding what they want to do with their lives and wondering about their growing feelings for each other. Overall this is a well-plotted and humorous story set in a historical period largely unexplored in children's books. It will be popular with history fans and people who simply enjoy an action-filled mystery plot.
  • Reviewed by Liz Bankes
  •  
  • author: Sarah Matthias
  • publisher: Catnip
  • edition: Paperback
  • price: £6.99
  • ISBN: 9781846470691

 

The Nargun and the Stars by Patricia Wrightson
  •  
  • It is hard to believe that The Nargun and the Stars was first published as long ago as 1973: the prose has a timeless quality, and the environmental concerns which are a major part of the plot still sound fresh today.
  • It tells the story of Simon, an orphan who moves to a ranch in the Australian bush to start a new life. The situation is not an unusual one in children's fiction, but Patricia Wrightson does not send merely Simon off alone, or with a group of other young people, to save the land from the Nargun. Instead, in an interesting break from tradition, he shares his adventure with the two ageing cousins who have given him a home. Simon is a town boy who grows to know and love the silence and the space of the land, and the folk spirits and tricksters from Aboriginal myths who live there. But deforestation disturbs the Nargun, an ancient and dangerous creature who does belong in the area, and as it cannot be destroyed, they all have to work together to drive it away.
  • The tone of this beautiful book is gentle and lyrical: there are moments of real, terrifying drama, but it is the land and its inhabitants which matter most. Simon is left free by his cousins to explore his new world, and as he does so he learns to let go of his anger and his pain. By the end of the book he has found a home and an identity, and realises that this is now where he belongs.
  • It is surprising that this book is not better known outside its native Australia, and I hope that this reissue will bring it to the eyes of many British readers.
  • Reviewed by Linda F Lawlor
  •  
  • author: Patricia Wrightson
  • publisher: Catnip
  • edition: Paperback
  • price: £5.99
  • ISBN: 9781846470769

 

Dark Angels by Katherine Langrish
  •  
  • Katherine Langrish, known for her highly-regarded Troll trilogy, shifts here to new terrain - the Welsh borders at the time of the Crusades - for a story that combines the wistful flavour of folk-ballad with a compellingly eventful and atmospheric narrative.
  • Wolf, a fugitive from the harsh regime of a monastery, is struggling through the wild landscape of Devil's Edge when he encounters a hunting party - whether mortal or supernatural he's not sure - and his dash for safety leads to the capture of a waif-like elf-girl. Wolf in turn is captured by Lord Hugo. This grieving husband, a crusader knight, is convinced that his late wife Eluned is not dead but imprisoned in the elf-world, and that the waif girl, if she could only talk, would lead him there. Wolf is installed at La Motte Rouge and entrusted with the task of teaching the girl to speak, also protecting her from the hostility of a sceptical or fearful household.
  • Wolf's story alternates with that of Nest, more formally Lady Agnes, Hugo's daughter, who is unwillingly betrothed to an arrogant young lord. She and Wolf are soon allied by their concern for the waif, Elfgift, and because both are at the disposal of seemingly uncaring fathers. When the wedding party arrives, and Nest feels only repugnance towards the odious Lord Godfrey ("his kiss lingered on her hand like the touch of a snail") Wolf is dismayed to see that the suitor's new chaplain is the cruel Brother Thomas who gave him many a beating at the abbey. Wolf's perceptions of the heroism and chivalry of crusader knights are also shattered when he learns of the massacre of captives at the siege of Acre: a sin for which Lord Hugo must atone. Of course, the story must come full circle to the underground caverns in which it began, and the final dramatic scenes do not disappoint.
  • The ease and grace of Langrish's writing, her depictions of settings and weather, and her range of memorable characters - including a gruff but perceptive hearth-hob, a somewhat put-upon pig, and a sad, spectral white lady - make this a colourful, dangerous, thoroughly engaging world for the reader to live in.
  • Highly recommended for capable readers of top primary or lower secondary age.
  • Reviewed by Linda Newbery
  •  
  • author: Katherine Langrish
  • publisher: Harper Collins
  • edition: Paperback Original
  • price: £6.99
  • ISBN: 978-0-00-721489-1

 

Fen Runners by John Gordon
  •  
  • Orion seem to be specialising lately in small elegant hardbacks. There was Marcus Sedgwick's very short YA novel Revolver and now John Gordon's 136-page Fen Runners. Like the Sedgwick it has a wintry cover. But this one is set in East Anglia, supposedly now, but with a much older back story lurking under the surface like a pike under ice.
  • John Gordon's first and most famous book is "The Giant Under the Snow", published in the late 60s when the author was already in his forties. He is a Fen man by adoption, having started out as a Geordie but the Eastern cold and winter has really seeped into his writing bones.
  • The evoking of the atmosphere, in which Kit and his friend Jenny have their adventure with the reconstituted skates (the "Fen Runners" of the title), is its greatest strength. It is winter, coming up to Christmas and in the book, as now, the hours of light are getting shorter and shorter, the weather colder and more treacherous.
  • Kit and Jenny have to find a mysterious black whetstone and drop it back in the river where the old skate blade was found in order to rid the countryside of a threat that has been growing in its underwater lair for hundreds of years.
  • In other words the plot is really rather thin and old-fashioned. The book reads like something found in a bottom drawer and polished up like the skate blade. But I don't think it really runs.
  • Reviewed by Mary Hoffman
  • author: John Gordon
  • publisher: Orion
  • edition: Hardback
  • price: £9.99
  • ISBN: 9781842556849

 

A Field Guide to Fairies by Susannah Marriott
  •  
  • Enter the enchanting world of fairies and learn about all aspects of fairy lore! This beautifully illustrated book is crammed full of interesting facts about every type of fairy that can be imagined. From house fairies to sea fairies, fairy legends such as the Lorelie, Shakespeare's famous Titania, fairy rings and tree spirits, it is a surprisingly comprehensive book for its size.
  • Of particular note in this beautifully illustrated volume are three intricate and highly detailed pop ups - which in my opinion are worth the price of the book on its own! - the first being of the Fairy Ring. Fairy Rings feature in many folk tales around the world but this one is taken from "The Welsh Fairy book" by W. Jenkyn Thomas. It depicts the shepherd Tudur who comes across the Welsh fairies (the Tylwyth Teg) dancing in a ring to the tune of a fairy fiddler.
  • The second is of Titania the Queen of the Fairies in a scene from Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Nights Dream." Here we see Titania asleep on a bank exhausted after quarrelling with her husband Oberon. Her fairy cohorts hover protectively around her.
  • The last pop up concerns the German legend of the Lorelei who haunts a rock on the banks of the river Rhine. She has been trapped by a band of warriors seeking to avenge the death of one of their number who drowned in her treacherous waters. The Lorelei escapes from them by means of three white crested waves that are transformed into horses to carry her to safety. From "Hero tales and legends of the Rhine" by Lewis Spence.
  • This would be a lovely gift for a little girl who wishes to learn more about these mystical creatures - recommended for children of 8. An enthralling read.
  • Reviewed by Angela Solomons
  •  
  • author: Susannah Marriott
  • illustrator: Daniela Jaglenka Terrazzini
  • publisher: Kingfisher
  • price: £14.99
  • ISBN: 9780753419212

 

The Stephensons’ Rocket by Jayne Woodhouse
  •  
  • When Anna Stephenson's irresponsible, workshy dad buys a greyhound from a bloke in the pub and announces that it's going to be the key to their fortune, it's almost the last straw for Anna's overworked mum. Rocky may have been a champion once, but his racing days are clearly behind him and Anna finds herself having to hold her family together as the consequences of Dad's hopeless optimism threaten to tear it apart.
  • None of the Stephensons' however are prepared for the effect Rocky will have on their lives, or for the lessons they will learn about themselves and each other on the way.
  • In the current climate, with publishers and booksellers alike looking for The Next Big Thing, an obviously low-budget book like this one is unlikely to attract much in the way of either attention or shelf space; and this is a great pity, because The Stephensons' Rocket is the sort of story that should never go out of fashion. A proper, human tale about engaging characters, told with genuine warmth and humour, it's both involving and gently informative. Not only Anna and her parents, but the whole cast - including brother Darren, bad boy Marcus, and grumpy neighbour Wilf - develop satisfyingly as the story progresses, and Dad's slow discovery of a sense of responsibility towards both the neglected dog and his family is both credible and well-told.
  • The Stephensons' Rocket is a classic example of why one shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Here's hoping it finds the readership it deserves.
  • Reviewed by John Dougherty
  •  
  • author: Jayne Woodhouse
  • publisher: The Clucket Press
  • edition: Paperback
  • price: £5.99
  • ISBN: 9780954925673

 

Little Leap Forward by Guo Yue & Clare Farrow
  •  
  • This is a lovely, lyrical story of a boy's childhood in the traditional courtyards of Beijing and the effects of the arrival of the Cultural Revolution. Beautifully illustrated throughout by Helen Cann, the book captures the sights and sounds of old China and will enthral readers of all ages.
  • Guo Yue is a talented musician and composer who has travelled the world performing at festivals and playing on film tracks, such as ‘The Last Emperor’. The book is a collaboration with his wife, Clare Farrow, who has enhanced Yue's stories with sympathetic, poetic and imaginative prose, to create a truly memorable tale.
  • As a child, Yue was always hungry and food became a wondrous pleasure to be lingered over and treated like treasure. This life-long love of Chinese food is reflected in the evocative descriptions of the sights, smells and sounds of cooking conveyed in the story.
  • Yue was an optimistic and fun-loving child, despite the restrictions of life in the courtyards. He kept crickets and silkworms under his bed and revelled in observing their habits. He also loved to fly kites with his friends. Even the arrival of the Red Guards at the start of the Cultural Revolution failed to stop the children from flying their kites. The elaborate and colourful kites of old China were banned but the new plain ones still flew - defiant in their freedom.
  • When Yue longed to reproduce the sounds of the wild song birds, his friend, Little Little showed him how to capture one. Yue built the bird a lovely cage and played his bamboo flute to her every day, trying to coax her into song. The bird remained silent. Only when he set her free, did she sing her beautiful songs again. This lovely metaphor encapsulates the theme of the importance of personal freedom, which is central to the story of Little Leap Forward. Yue's friend reminds him that we would all rather ‘be free for a day, than spend a lifetime in a cage.’
  • The effects of the Cultural Revolution are vividly portrayed and yet they remain a background to the over-riding impressions of a childhood filled with appreciation for life's simple pleasures and characters who are resilient, hopeful and enthusiastic. The need for all creatures to be free and to find self-expression and the redemptive power of music are beautifully conveyed in the lyrical narrative. This is a wonderful book that will appeal to readers of all ages and will resonate with them long after the book is closed.
  • Reviewed by Ruth Doyle Walter
  •  
  • author: Guo Yue & Clare Farrow
  • illustrator: Helen Cann
  • publisher: Barefoot Books
  • price: £9.99
  • ISBN: 9781846861130

 

The Undrowned Child by Michelle Lovric
  •  
  • It’s a wonderful feeling when you realise that the book you are reading is destined to be a classic. That’s the feeling you get within the first few pages of Michelle Lovric’s ‘The Undrowned Child’. The beautiful cover artwork, the enchanting chapter-headings and a detailed map all let the reader know this book is filled with magic and imagination before the story has even begun.
  • The story opens with an introduction entitled ‘A Case of Baddened Magic’ and tells the story of a dreadful night in 19th century Venice, when a strange storm causes an entire family to drown: everyone except a new-born baby, whose body was reportedly never found.
  • The story then jumps to 1899 and this ‘undrowned child’ is now eleven years old. Returning to Venice for the first time since her adoption, Teodora comes across a mysterious book with illustrations that communicate with her, and writings addressed to ‘Teodora of Sad Memory’. As the story unfolds, Teo learns that she is destined for an enchanted and dangerous adventure, and that she must save the city she loves from sinking. Lovric combines elements of fairytale, history and gothic horror to create an astonishingly original work.
  • While the subject matter could be a little too much to take on for a younger reader, short chapters keep the pace moving and also make the content easier to digest. It does take a while to become fully involved in the story, but once you are it is virtually impossible to leave, as Lovric invites the reader to go ‘between the linings’ into a magical alternative Venice.
  • Each of the many creatures are perfectly written three-dimensional characters and the transition between real and fantasy worlds is seamless. ‘The Undrowned Child’ is a wonderfully enchanting story and my inability to stop reading made the end come far too quickly. I cannot recommend this book highly enough; I’m absolutely certain of its potential as a classic with both child and adult readers for years to come. Utterly brilliant.
  • Reviewed by Laura Taylor
  •  
  • author: Michelle Lovric
  • publisher: Orion
  • edition: Hardback
  • price: £9.99
  • ISBN: 9781842557020

 

Tollins: Explosive Tales for Children by Conn Iggulden
  •  
  • Tollins are winged little creatures which human eyes cannot see and that who, before the adventures described in this book, used to enjoy a ‘simple life of fluttering around at the bottom of people’s gardens’ in Chorleywood. This changes with the arrival of a firework factory, whose workers discover the Tollins through the use of blue tinted glasses. They then start using them to make fireworks, as the little creatures, for mysterious reasons, can create the most beautiful pyrotechnics.
  • Sparkler, a bright young Tollin, wishes to free his people and sets off to investigate what makes them such a special ingredient in the creation of colourful fireworks.
  • In the second adventure, Sparkler is imprisoned because his study of certain books is against Tollin law, which forbids contacts with the human world. Finally, in the third adventure, Sparkler and friends fight off an attempt by the Dark Tollins to take over Chorleywood while also creating a balloon to investigate the atmosphere.
  • The idea of little creatures living in worlds hidden within the human one is not new to children’s literature, and for some readers that of the Tollins could become another favourite addition to this theme. This collection of stories is presented by the publisher as the ‘first installment’ so more adventures are likely to come.
  • The hardback edition of this book is beautifully presented and the splendid illustrations by Lizzie Duncan are enchanting and very suggestive. They complement the narrative effectively and will be very helpful to younger readers for visualising the fantastic world of the Tollins. There is something about this edition which makes it feel slightly retro, in the same way as ‘The Dangerous Book for Boys’, also by Iggulden, was. This is indeed a book whose look invites readers to snuggle up comfortably and get on reading.
  • Having said that, it is difficult to conclude to which particular age group this collection of stories is actually aimed.
  • While its presentation and its subject suggest a younger age, the language and the style of the narrative seemed to me outside the reach of young independent readers, who would also fail to appreciate some of the humour. This, in fact, seems to be directed predominantly to a more grown up audience, for instance when relating to the double standards of the relationships between humans and Tollins and between Tollins and fairies.
  • So, to whom can one recommend this book? When considering independent readers, this would be more suitable to those older children who are able to elaborate this style of narrative, which is occasionally fast and requires the reader to read between the lines and link concepts. I think it will predominantly appeal to those parents and grandparents whose inner child will connect to the bygone feel of these tales and will want to share them with the younger generation.
  • Reviewed by Laura Brill
  •  

 

  • author: Conn Iggulden
  • illustrator: Lizzie Duncan
  • publisher: HarperCollins
  • edition: Hardback
  • price: £14.99
  • ISBN: 9780007303991

 

One Thousand and One Nights by C.J. Moore
  •  
  • One of the challenges in re-telling folk tales is finding the balance between authenticity and accessibility. Perhaps aiming for an authentic feel, Moore writes with a traditional, formal tone. For me, this gave weight rather than sparkle.
  • Olga Dugina’s elegant illustrations take centre stage. Her exquisite patterns and stylised shapes are reminiscent of eastern miniature paintings. Dugina began her career in the Soviet Union, turning to children’s book illustration to gain greater artistic freedom. Indeed, her carefully arranged tableaus are fine art quality.
  • The collection consists of the stories of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, The Ox and the Ass and The Horse of Ebony. These are framed within the well-known tale of Sheherazade. The premise is that when the Sultan discovers his wife embracing a slave, he draws his sword and kills her on the spot. He concludes that women everywhere are not to be trusted and vows that, ‘from henceforth when I marry, it will always be for one night, and when dawn comes, my bride will be taken and done to death’. Some parents and teachers may consider this too adult for younger children.
  • I admit, I did not share the story with my own young daughter.
  • Reviewed by Dawn Casey
  •  
  • author: C.J. Moore
  • illustrator: Olga Dugina
  • publisher: Floris Books
  • edition: Hardback
  • price: £14.99
  • ISBN: 9780863156007

 

The Dragons of Ordinary Farm by Tad Williams and Deborah Beale

 

  •  
  • When Tyler and Lucinder Jenkins are invited to spend their summer on their distant relative’s farm, they expect six weeks of cows, sheep and hard work. What they get is a family secret that will change their lives forever. As the title suggests, ‘Ordinary Farm’ is no ordinary farm, but a unique portal or ‘fault line’ connecting infinite alternative worlds, and providing a passage between them. The farm is run by various extraordinary characters, all of whom have emerged at some point through the fault line, and instead of livestock, the farm is inhabited by dragons, unicorns and ghosts. The Jenkins kids are swept up into a battle to keep the farm from falling into the hands of an evil billionaire, as well as helping to save the life of a dragon and her unhatched egg.
  • While this is in some ways an original story, there are several very noticeable elements that appear to be ‘borrowed’ from its well-known predecessors, such as C.S. Lewis and Philip Pullman. Alternative dimensions, helpful and hindering animal companions, a dangerously beautiful mother-figure and even a half-man, half-goat ‘faun’ all feature, amongst others.
  • With so many obvious similarities, the reader could understandably mistake this for a reworking of His Dark Materials, without the thought-provoking subject matter or controversy. However, I don’t believe this to be a work of plagiarism by any means. What Williams and Beale seem to have done is to start with some tried and tested themes of children’s fantasy fiction and taken them down an entirely different route. What is most different about ‘Ordinary Farm’ is that these magical creatures are able to exist within our own reality and the fantasy is constantly contrasted against images of modern day culture, making the adventure seem more immediate.
  • This book is definitely a slow-burner and it may take a while for the reader to take real interest in the story; the characters are not well-developed until the second half of the book and several are not particularly likeable. This makes it difficult to connect with the story and does not encourage the reader to keep reading. However, I would urge the reader to persevere; the second half of the book is considerably stronger than the first as the characters finally begin to grow and the plot becomes more powerful.
  • Towards the final chapters of ‘Ordinary Farm’, the tone changes, the pace quickens and the dialogue becomes more meaningful. All of this creates a more suspenseful story.
  • With the cross-over novel become increasingly popular, and the subject matter of such novels become more and more adult-friendly, we may have come to expect too much from children’s fiction.
  • The simple fact that this book is not particularly ‘challenging’, should not detract from the fact that this is an exciting and interesting adventure. ‘The Dragons of Ordinary Farm’ is certainly worth a read, perhaps just not for the older reader.
  • Reviewed by Laura Taylor
  •  
  • author: Tad Williams and Deborah Beale
  • publisher: Quercus
  • edition: Paperback Original
  • price: £9.99
  • ISBN: 9781847248213