The Magic Place


By Chris Wormell 
Published by David Fickling Books
9 yrs and upwards


This wonderfully illustrated adventure story is about a lonely and mistreated girl called Clementine trying to escape from her horrible aunt and uncle who live in the Great Black City. Locked in the house, she dreams of The Magic Place... but one day she gets a chance to escape and her adventure begins. Little does she know though, that someone out there is searching for her too...

Clementine is aided by her best friend Gilbert, a very clever cat and the drawings of them both together are my favourite illustrations in book. Gilbert being crucial to the story is what initially drew me to this book.

The writing and characters are reminiscent of Roald Dahl and Lemony Snicket; the aunt and uncle are typical villains, (and sometimes violent) but they also get what they deserve... 

The story involves roof-top chases, a big twist, hero dogs, a very important toy rabbit and of course, crucial help from Gilbert the cat.

It is gripping, action-packed and sometimes humourous, but also sentimental with poignant moments where Clementine doesn't know what life and love she is missing yet - but the reader does. Rooting for her and her future is what drives this classic tale. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Impossible Creatures

Image
By Katherine Rundell Published by Bloomsbury Ages 9 + Once upon a time, magical creatures such as unicorns, dragons, lavellans (the description of lavellans in the bestiary made me laugh out loud btw) and ratatoskas wandered the whole earth. Now they live in Archipelago, part of our world that is hidden by magic. But they are dying. Mal, from the Archipelago and Christopher, staying in Scotland, meet and unite both to save Mal from a murderer (!) and to find out what is happening to the creatures in the magical world... As an animal lover I felt an immediate connection to Christopher who attracts animals wherever he goes: 'his allegiance was to wild and living things.' and I loved this feature. The unicorns are beautifully described: 'like a cluster of ambulant stars' in varieties of silver and white. And the Sphinxes 'yellow-gold winged cats: cats that stood ten feet high' are so wonderfully proud and all-knowing. I like Jacques the tiny dragon.  The chases a
Read more

Arkspire by Jamie Littler

Image
Published by Puffin Books Ages 9+ An entertaining, eerie, unputdownable story! Arkspire is utterly brilliant - I couldn't put it down. What world-building and characters! I love Cinder so much! Moments from Juni, Thea, Everard and Cinder had me laughing out loud.  'When the world gives you an empty bag, it's your job to fill it.'  An under-dog tale with mysterious magic, humour and vivid illustrations, Littler is talented indeed. I get asked almost daily by parents what do their kids read next having finished Harry Potter. I will be directing them to Arkspire. 'You would be a change for good... you are someone who would remember the little guy for once.'
Read more

Marnie Midnight and the Moon Mystery

Image
Written and illustrated by Laura Ellen Anderson Published by Farshore Books Ages 5 and upwards Marnie Midnight is an absolute delight of a book!  No-one will fail to be charmed by Marnie's hopefulness, Milo's cuteness, Star's militancy, and ultimately Laura's wacky imagination and genius plot twists at the end. Floyd (an A not a Bee) embodies flamboyant uniqueness, Star the ant made me laugh and Marnie never stops believing or being curious about what she is passionate about (the moon and moon explorers). Easy to read for all ages approaching chapter books and onwards, I'm confident adults will chuckle at Laura's jokes too. I hope Marnie introduces many more children to Laura's growing host of characters and stories. 
Read more