reviews 8 – 10 Junior/Middle continued


daring but hopelessly unworkable escapes, so that he and Aggie could fly off to Key West, Florida, where they will take up residence in a palm tree. Flaws in his escape strategies include being unable to fly and having no clue where Florida is. However, one of Alastair’s undoubted skills is the composition of pastiches. He once shredded, chewed and inwardly digested an old water- damaged Norton Anthology, thus absorbing work ranging from Lewis Carroll to Herman Melville by way of Wallace Stevens. The three


narrators are all


engaging, all unwittingly amusing. All miss loved ones, and now they need to break free from their literal and metaphorical cages, to see clearly what they already have and to stop wishing for what they haven’t. Of course, we know that in the end, those needs will be happily met. The publishers suggest 8+ as


a reading age, which may seem ambitious. Perhaps able younger children will race through the 300+ pages to see how things turn out for such quirky characters. Older readers might relish the curious byways such a cast inevitably drifts into.


There’s an amusing passage, for example,


when Alastair has composed a clever pastiche called ‘Jabberplopky’. The poet is astonished when a hitherto silent goldfish named Humpty Dumpty suddenly offers (in “a curious British accent at that”) an eloquent explication


of several portmanteau


words in the text, despite the sneers of Alastair’s implacable enemy, a foul- tempered cat named Tiger. Readers who take this rambling trip as it comes, enjoying the views and in no hurry to get to the destination, will find an original, entertaining, sometimes uneven read. Leonardo’s next novel could well be worth looking out for; with luck, it won’t be eight years in the making. GF


The Princess who hid in a Tree HHH


Jackie Holderness, ill. Alan Marks, Bodleian Library, 32pp, 9781851245185, £12.99,hbk


Based on legend and set in Oxford, this book tells the story of Saint Frideswide, daughter of a Saxon King and Queen. Adventurous and brave as a child she grew up to be kind, gentle and talented. When news reached nearby kingdoms of her beauty and


kindness kings and princes sought her hand in marriage. But Frideswide did not want to marry, she had plans to found a church instead. However one suitor was persistent declaring he would attack Oxford and kidnap Frideswide if she resisted.


There


follows an adventure in which the princess and her friends escape her pursuers by boat, sheltering with animals in a barn and hiding in a tree. An ability to perform miracles emerges when Frideswide’s prayers and songs produce a much-needed stream of fresh water, later apparent again when she returns to Oxford to face her would be captor. This is an interesting account of


a little-known story with a strong female protagonist. The illustrations, traditional


complement


in style, the


text.


attractively For


those


wishing to find out more about this story the back of the book includes additional information on its historical background. SMc


Potkin and Stubbs HHHH


Sophie Green, ill. K.J. Mountford, Piccadilly, 375pp, 9781848127616, £6.99 pbk


The heroine of this story, Lil Potkin, is a not very ordinary girl who lives with her mother in the city of Peligan; a place


that seems dark and full of danger. Her mother works at the town hall for the Mayor and is never home, thus giving Lil plenty of time to indulge in her passion of being a detective. When she accidentally comes across the ghost of Ned Stubbs he asks for help in finding out what happened to him. Before long they are caught up in an old series of crimes, and then when these seem linked to Ned’s death they enlist the support of the private detective who had dealt with the original investigation. The trouble is that the more they delve into the past, the more dangerous life seems to become; can they solve the mysteries before the villains catch up with them? This is a great crime adventure


for middle grade readers and has a definite feel of American ‘gumshoe’ type stories. The author has created a dismal and at times sleazy city, where the Mayor totally controls the press and the police as well as the local government. Lil is a particularly feisty character and is not afraid of anything, although she does have a habit of jumping in to situations and Ned makes an unusual and worthy sidekick. The washed up detective Abe Mandrel acts as a link between the current action and the events of the past and we see him gradually climb out of the despair that he


Originating from a family-owned publishing house established in Athens, Greece over 70 years ago, Faros Books is a new London-based independent publisher with a vision to inspire and entertain children, initially by publishing quality books for the very young.Our award winning authors’ and illustrators’ work has been successfully published in many languages, from Greek to Chinese, and now it appears for the first time in the U.K.


www.farosbooks.co.uk For all enquiries contact Roy Johnson - kidglovesbooks@gmail.com


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