reviews


licence the girls are thrown together with many characters from their pasts (including a young Charles Dickens!), and set out to solve a mystery brought to them by the cleverest person in England, Mary Somerville. The plot itself takes its inspiration from the Wilkie Collins novel The Woman in White. Once the characters are established, the story is pacy, and the combination of brains and bravery help


mystery and unmask the villains. The storytelling is witty and the comical dialogue is fresh and enjoyable. The delightful


Murphy set the tone, making the characters appealing and bringing the settings to life. For able readers with an interest in history this book is great fun and it can be discussed at different levels (for example the roles of women, and the advances in science and mathematics in early 19th century) or simply enjoyed as a


rollicking good mystery. LT


Spellchasers: The Beginner’s Guide to Curses


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Lari Don, Kelpies, 267pp, 9781782503057, £6.99 pbk


Molly


grumpy old neighbour by complaining about the dog dirt on his pavement; what she didn’t expect was that he would curse her so that she turns into a hare every time a dog barks. This of course makes life very difficult, so Molly agrees to attend a course which promises to break the curse; even though she does not actually believe in the concept herself. She finds herself with a group of children, all of whom suffer from family curses which they are desperate to get rid of. As part of their course the children are sent on a quest which will test them to the limit and make them think about their priorities in life. This is the first in a new series


Drummond annoyed her illustrations from Kelly the heroines to unravel the


8 – 10 Junior/Middle continued Rowan Oakwing


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E.J. Clarke, Little, Brown, 208pp, 978 1 5102 0032 6, £6.99 pbk


This is an imaginative modern fairy tale


traditional that successfully with a contemporary


a familiar setting, that of London’s parks. Seven years after her mother’s disappearance Rowan cries herself to sleep under a weeping beech tree in Hyde Park and awakes to find herself transformed into a tiny Tree Fairy, Rowan


Tree Fairy, Aiken, and a talking robin, Harold, Rowan learns how to manage her new abilities, follows clues to find her mother, finds allies amongst the Fairies of the Birds and Deer and makes a powerful enemy in Vulpes, Lord of the Fairies of the Fox. Rowan is a brave, sympathetic


Oakwing. Aided by fellow


fairy story elements realism and


combines


what’s in their shopping trolley (best not to look!) to what it’s like to struggle with reading. There are poems about fairness


perceptive) being a bully,


bullied and how that is something you never ever forget. There are poems about poetry itself, considering for example how a poem might be like a hamster – it is advisable not to dissect either of them! Some poems challenge the reader’s thinking on life, gender expectations, skin colour and disability. Poems such as When I come home from work and Noah’s Diary about the precious moments a father spends with his young children are very moving. Others are designed to make you laugh with illustrations which add to the humour. As well as a range of themes a


variety of forms are used including the narrative Saga of 2M and The Lion, list poetry, limericks, songs and haiku. This debut collection from writer and


heroine, definitely a feisty fairy character. There is plenty of action and excitement, involving flying, pursuits, battles and shape-shifting and a satisfyingly detailed fairy tale realm linked to locations that many readers will recognise. feelings


through the story and add a fitting touch of darkness and danger to the humour and adventure. In this first novel E.J. Clarke sends his character off on her quest and sets the scene for a series that should appeal to readers who like their fairy tales to have a modern twist. SR


Dinosaurs and Dinner Ladies HHHHH


John Dougherty, illus, Tom Morgan Jones, Otter-Barry Books, 96pp, 978-1-9109-5956-5


Although a small book, Dinosaurs and Dinner Ladies is packed with a variety of very engaging poems on a wide range of themes. There are poems


from the Kelpies imprint, produced in Scotland by Floris Books. It follows their usual high standard and is an extremely enjoyable read. There is a lot of action and adventure as well as a good dose of magic and mystery. The story is very much grounded in Scotland and there is a real sense of place and of personality which comes through. The characters are believable, even if they do consist of a sphinx, a dryad and a kelpie as well as Molly. As you would expect there are also a rather nasty villain who uses the curses to create a flock (murder) of


are very much about family and the meaning of friendship, as well as being comfortable with yourself. They are definitely ideas that young people have to contend with nowadays and experiencing the issues through fiction is a good way for people to be able to think about them and to discuss the problems with their friends. This is a great read and I look forward to the next two books. MP


crows. The underlying themes


topics such as dinosaurs including the eponymous Dinosaurs and Dinner Ladies. Several feature school life; from wondering what your teachers do in their spare time (stand on the chairs or jump down the stairs) or


about perennially popular of loss and sadness run Rowan’s


performer Jon Dougherty has appeal for both children and adults and would be a great addition to a poetry library or classroom collection too. SMc


(Stickers is particularly being


address the reader directly, offering fascinating switches of perspective and register. The cheetah begins with the wonder of his speed, and ends with his vulnerability: ‘I run, I don’t fight/I’m made for flight.’ The lark may be ‘thrilling the heavens’ but he’s also marking his territory: ‘I dare another lark to come near/I’ll thrash him out of my patch.’ If the metre and rhyme falters in a few places, it’s more than made up for by the range of approach, the cleverness of construction, and some telling imagery.


jokey poem Mint which moves from one use to another of the herb by a series of cunning contradictions. I won’t be able to see a heron eating a fish (should I be so lucky) without wondering whether it is really


‘sucking on a saved caramel.’ Above all, Gittins has a real sense of her audience. She begins from their experience and gently moves her readers into places of observation, contemplation, imagination and, sometimes,


poetic without being portentous or pretentious. CB


Arthur and the Golden Rope HHH


Joe Todd Stanton, Flying Eye, 56pp, 978 1 911171 03 4, £12.99, hbk


Adder, Bluebell, Lobster, Wild Poems


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Chrissie Gittins, illus Paul Bommer, Otter-Barry Books, 96pp, 978 1 91 09555 8


A few years ago, there was a proper fuss when it was discovered that the Oxford Junior Dictionary had been removing words that described the natural world,


adder, and replacing them with words more ‘appropriate’ to our digital age, like blog and broadband. All in all, over a hundred words were replaced. Now Chrissie Gittins has chosen forty of the discarded words as the subjects of this poetry collection. The poems offer a variety of forms and moods. Some are informative in the dictionary sense; some are evocative; and some take off


whatever direction the poet’s fancy takes her. Adding an adder to an adder


in


mating snakes. And exploring the rhyming possibilities of a cauliflower ends up with taking the vegetable into a shower. In many poems, animals, plants, fruit and vegetables


produces a poem about like blackberry and


JIn this tale, young Icelander Arthur goes on a quest to tame a monstrous wolf that has ravaged his village. It’s an introduction to (and a revision of) the Norse myth of the binding of Fenrir. In this version, ‘unlikely hero’ Arthur is a small, blond tousle-haired boy (think a young Boris Johnson with glasses), who loves exploring the local forest and bringing back the strange things he has found there. It’s a habit not much appreciated by his fellow villagers but which stands him in good stead when he sets off to meet Thor and is given the task of finding a golden rope. The darkness of the original myth and of life the Northlands is reflected in the books sombre hues but is offset by the cheerful caricature depiction of its main characters, including intrepid Arthur himself and Thor, who looks more like Father Christmas than a dread warrior god. It’s a well-executed graphic novel that’s suitable for junior school age children. CB


The Secret Horses of Briar Hill HHHHH


Megan Shepherd, illus Levi Pinfold, Walker Books, 240pp, 978-1-4063-6758-4, £12.99 hbk


The story is set in 1941, in Briar Hill hospital in Shropshire, a sanatorium for


Emmaline has been evacuated here from Nottingham, where we gradually learn a terrible tragedy has befallen her family, leaving her an orphan. From the very start Emmaline tell us she has a secret, that she can see winged horses living in the mirrors of Briar Hill. Her dear friend Anna is bed-bound and Emmaline spends her happiest hours with her, drawing the winged horses and talking. Emmaline is not as ill as Anna, but she is aware of her tuberculosis which she refers to as ‘stillwaters’,


weighed down by a thick, dark liquid Books for Keeps No.221 November 2016 25 feeling her lungs children with tuberculosis. silliness, which are like I love the


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