A Pinch of Magic by Michelle Harrison, reviewed by Dawn Finch

Image copyright Simon and Schuster

First the blurb...

Three sisters trapped by an ancient curse.

Three magical objects with the power to change their fate.

Will they be enough to break the curse?

Or will they lead the sisters even deeper into danger? ...

Okay, so that's a pretty short blurb, but was more than enough to tempt me into reading this. Covering my tick list pretty efficiently here. An ancient curse, tick. Magical objects, tick. Sisterhood, tick. Danger and adventure, tick.

The only thing that held me back from reading this book sooner was the huge number of superlatives being thrown around in other reviews for it. "Phenomenal", "spellbinding", "brilliant", "breathtaking", "glorious"... the list goes on, and that kind of makes me hold off a bit. I hate being told I'll love something.

The trouble is.... THEY ARE ALL RIGHT!!

This book is absolutely wonderful. It is a perfect example of how to unfold a story. There is exactly the right balance of description and dialogue and every character feels well-rounded and well-placed. The dialogue is natural and at times I was so swept away by the story that I properly lost track of time. I had those wonderful times when I sat down to read and hours later I looked up and found the room in darkness and my tea cold (don't you love it when that happens?!)

I suppose I should give you more detail about the story, but I really don't want to ruin it. The story of the Widdershins sisters doesn't need a longer blurb than the one above and I hate reviews that spoiler. All you need to know is in those few lines above. This fairytale/Grimm type story feels traditional, but with a whole load of new ideas and sparkling adventure. It never veers into stuffy or dull and will make a great novel to read aloud and share. This is exactly the kind of book that you will start reading aloud, and your audience will quickly be sneaking it off to read ahead!

Another thing worth mentioning is the stunning cover of this book. The design is by illustrator Melissa Castrillón and her work also peppers the text with tiny silhouettes and a fantastic map. I love it when a cover acts as a teaser for elements of the story, and this one really does make the book the full package. It makes such a difference when a publisher takes the time to make a book a desirable physical object. Book ownership is an important part of the journey to becoming a lifelong reader, and making printed books a glorious thing to own is vital.

A Pinch of Magic has the quality and feel of a classic children's book, and I hope it will take its place among the best of them.

A Pinch of Magic is written by Michelle Harrison (and illustrated by Melissa Castrillón). It is published by Simon and Schuster.

Review by Dawn Finch, children's author and librarian.

@dawnafinch

www.dawnfinch.com

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The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Chris Riddell, reviewed by Sarah Hammond

Opening up a new Neil Gaiman book is always a treat, but I was curious about reading The Sleeper and the Spindle. How would Gaiman play with traditional folktales and make them interesting and new? As you might have guessed from the title, Sleeping Beauty is the basis for the story. But, there is a twist or two.  One of the protagonists is a queen who has striking resemblances to another fairytale character. She has dwarves for friends, does not seem too keen on her stepmother, once slept for over a year in a glass coffin, and has skin that, in a certain light, seems as white as snow. 

The Sleeper and the Spindle is a story of heroines. Princes are nowhere to be seen in providing happy ever afters. The queen hears of a terrible new sleeping plague spreading across her neighbour’s kingdom, who incidentally happens to be a princess who has been slumbering under a spell for some eighty years, so that birds fall from the sky mid-flight and whole towns of people sleep ‘… in their smithies, at their awls, on milking stools.’ Awful as this is, the plague gives a welcome excuse for the queen to ditch her fiancé on the eve of their wedding, don her armour and ride off for adventure to save her kingdom. 

While Gaiman gives a nod to traditional folktale conventions — 'Names are in short supply in this telling’ — he also adds other modern flavours. Creepily, the cobwebbed sleeping multitudes affected by the plague speak in unison and lumber after the living, reminiscent of zombies. It is the queen, not a prince, who wakes the sleeping girl with a kiss. 

We are also challenged to think about identity. How much choice do we have about who we are or what we do? When we first meet the queen, she is contemplating life without choices after her imminent marriage: '..the path to her death, heartbeat by heartbeat, would be inevitable.' Interestingly, many of the main characters do not use their own names: one name has been forgotten; others do not want to share theirs publicly; many are simply referred to by their titles (Her Majesty, the sot, the pot-girl). In fact, Gaiman sets up our understanding of who-is-who early in the book, only to challenge our guided misconceptions later in the story. 

The artwork embellishing the book is magnificent. Chris Riddell uses a black-and-white palette with a hint of gold in a style inspired by art nouveau. The intricate detail of the illustrations — creeping claustrophobic vines, cobwebs and expressive faces of the characters — are hugely atmospheric and weave their own story around the written tale. The book was a deserved winner of the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2016.

www.sarahhammond.org

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SEVEN MILES OF STEEL THISTLES by Katherine Langrish; reviewed by Gillian Philip

I wanted to take more time to read this lovely book, a collection (with amendments and additions) of Katherine Langrish’s posts in her blog of the same name. In fact, halfway through I paused to berate myself. If a book is as beautifully written and engrossing as this one, I told myself, you ought to relax, take your time, roll it around your brain for a while and make it last.

But by that time I was with the story of Briar Rose, the Sleeping Beauty, and Langrish was placing it in a context of stopped time, suspended animation, preserved moments. And I realised that it was fine to spend a hot and sunny afternoon doing nothing but immersing myself in this investigation of, and paean to, fairytales. So long as thorn bushes didn’t start growing up around the house, one gulp at one sitting was a perfectly good way to devour it.

Rescuing Sleeping Beauty from her reputation as the most passive heroine in storytelling is just one of the author’s feats. (I use the word deliberately; ‘Seven Miles of Steel Thistles’ is a description of an obstacle in a story of one of those rambling fairytale quests, but Langrish also likens it to the act of writing a book. I can totally relate.) She kills stone-dead the notion that fairytales are all about weak, passive princesses awaiting rescue; her retelling of the story of Mr Fox – a far more feminist folktale than Perrault’s Bluebeard –  is especially delightful, and I envy the schoolchildren who have heard her tell it live. 

Langrish begins, though, with an analysis of what fairytales are, and where they came from, and the often blurred distinctions between fairytales, myths and legends. As she puts it in the introduction:

“The field of fairy stories, legends, folk tales and myths is like a great, wild meadow. The flowers and grasses seed everywhere; boundaries are impossible to maintain. Wheat grows into the hedge from the cultivated fields nearby, and poppies spring up in the middle of the oats…”

But Katherine Languish has a forensic approach to classifying them and clarifying the distinctions. It’s not about the fairies: plenty of fairytales have none at all. They’re not about characterisation, or intricate description, or even sane and logical plotting. These are stories most of all about ordinary people, their lives, their hopes and fears – albeit through the filter of weird metamorphoses and talking foxes. Fairytales “don’t ask to be believed”; but in the splendid chapter Desiring Dragons, Langrish declares that it’s our ability to think symbolically that makes us human. Far from telling children (and adults) they should grow out of Harry Potter, Langrish believes that “Myths and stories deserve to be taken seriously - read and written seriously - because there are things humanity needs to say that can only be said in symbols.”

Seven Miles of Steel Thistles is a wide-ranging journey through centuries – millennia – of these symbolic stories; as well as retelling and analysing fairytales from many cultures, Langrish gives us personal stories of her own love – begun in childhood – for these uniquely human creations. The chapters are punctuated by some of her own beautiful, sharp poems inspired by folk and fairytales. And she has done some fascinating detective work on the various versions of The Great Selkie of Sule Skerrie. It’s unsurprising that the original can’t be tracked down (though the journey is entertaining) – as she points out, there are no such thing as original folktales. We have no idea how they began – and one highly entertaining chapter (The King Who Had Twelve Sons) details how we sometimes don’t even know how they end.

I’m a huge fairytale nerd, so I guess it’s not surprising that I loved this book: one to make time stop on a hot, languid summer afternoon. I may have read it faster than I meant to, but I’ll be reading it again, very soon. It’s a story all of its own, and after all, that's what stories are for.

Seven Miles of Steel Thistles by Katherine Langrish; The Greystones Press; rrp £12.99

www.gillianphilip.com

Seven Miles of Steel Thistles by Katherine Langrish; The Greystones Press; rrp £12.99

www.gillianphilip.com

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GREY ISLAND, RED BOAT by Ian Beck. Reviewed by Saviour Pirotta

Title: Grey Island, Red Boat
Author and Illustrator: Ian Beck
Publisher: Barrington Stoke
Pub date: February 2016
Format: pb

Princess Opal lives on the island of Ashes, a grey place where it's always November and it never stops raining.  Her father, the king, is forever taking off in his grey ballon to remonstrate with the rain clouds and the closest the princess ever comes to excitement is watching the fishermen unload their catch. It makes for a dreary life until one day a fishermen rescues a young man in a drifting boat. A boat with a red hull!

The young man is a sort of Midas figure, except that everything he touches turns

from grey to colourful. His magic touch injects a joie de vivre into the princess' life and soon the whole island is infected with his joy.  Not everyone is happy with this turn of events, though. Especially not the king who considers the young man a threat to the island's way of life! So he has him locked up in the dungeons, much to the chagrin of Princess Opal...

This is an original story but it reads like an elegant European fairytale. The beautifully written text, laden with references to precious stones, flows from one page to another, complimenting the gorgeous, retro illustrations. These start off black and white at the start of the bock and gradually get imbued with more and more colour as the story reaches a multicoloured finale. A little gem of a book, both for its story and its fabulous production.

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@spirotta

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THE WILD SWANS by Jackie Morris Reviewed by Adèle Geras

"It was a book so beautiful that she felt at any moment the painted characters would leap out of the pages and come to life."

So says Eliza, the brave and resourceful heroine of Jackie Morris's THE WILD SWANS. That sentence sums up my feelings about this retelling of one of my favourite fairytales. 

Anyone who reads my reviews regularly will know that I always say, right up front, that I know this or that writer; that I can't help it if some of my best friends write super books and so on. With Jackie, I can truthfully say that I've only met her once briefly in person. But she's a Twitter chum and anyone who takes part in that online cocktail party will know that such relationships can be a great deal of fun. I have followed Jackie and because I've been an admirer of her work for years,  I did actually ASK to review this book.

I had another reason for doing this. It's this: I myself wrote a version of this fairytale for David Fickling's collection of stories, which sold for £1 each back in 1998. My story was called THE SIX SWAN BROTHERS and it was beautifully illustrated in black and white by Ian Beck. 

There are twelve swans in Morris's version. The whole book is so beautifully produced and presented that it's worth pausing to pay tribute to those who made the decision to publish it in this format. It's a square-ish hardback, with full colour illustrations and turning every page is a pleasure.

Morris has written the text as well as providing the haunting illustrations. I am always deeply envious of anyone who can do that. It seems to be the most perfect way of creating a book and here the writer has managed to produce such a rich story,  so full of pleasurable language that actually, it would be possible to read it with no pictures whatsoever and still have the images in your head. Take, for example the painting below. It shows Eliza after she's been enchanted by the White Queen.

 The text reads thus: "...the queen now pulled and backcombed and filled her hair with things.  Eliza saw jewelled combs where there were only tangled twigs and thorns and ragged nests of birds."

And yes, the picture adds to the words but they are poetic and vivid in themselves, even without the help of an illustration.

The story is well known to many  in one version or another. What Morris adds to it is nature and detail. The story is told at much greater length, with many more layers of story for  readers to enjoy. It's told well, with good pacing and gorgeous choice of language. I've also tried reading the text aloud and that works very well, so I hope there will be an audio version. Morris is one of the best illustrators of  creatures: bears, cats, birds and hares. She shows us the world as a beautiful place but also one where cruelty is constantly present, always there waiting to catch us unawares.

In this book, the two creatures who matter are a dog and a hare. Shadow is Eliza's companion and friend. She is a big, grey, skinny animal, but also very gentle and loving.  The White Hare,  (the animal embodiment of the Queen who turned Eliza's brothers into swans) is both sinister and lovely. And the swans themselves are magnificent: white and powerful and crowned with gold.   

 This book will doubtless appear in paperback in the fullness of time but  the very competitively-priced  hardback  would make the most wonderful Christmas present for anyone who loves fairytales, and nature and the joys of holding in their hands something that will go on giving pleasure for years and years. John Keats said it and he's quite right: A thing of beauty is a joy for ever.

THE WILD SWANS is published by Frances Lincoln

Hbk: £10.99

ISBN: 9781847805362

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‘When It Snows’ by Richard Collingridge reviewed by Pauline Chandler

Browsing in our local book shop (yes, we still have one !) for Christmas picture books for my grandson, my eyes were drawn to the beautiful cover of ‘When It Snows’. Its sombre night time colours really stood out from the rest. There’s that huge reindeer too, towering over a very small child. It looked unusual, if not slightly threatening, but I was attracted to it and intrigued, so I opened this beautiful book. I’m so glad I did. It’s a gem.

The images of giants continue throughout the story.

We have a giant train, enormous snowman, gigantic trees and the towering Queen of the Poles, and there's that reindeer, hung all over with sacks and boxes of presents, its antlers rearing up like huge leafless trees. As I followed the story I realised that the unusual proportions could reflect a small child's point of view, as well as what we might expect from the world of myth. There are small characters too, fairies and elves, and Santa is reassuringly human size. 

These illustrations are all beautifully depicted in the same sombre colours as the cover, dark blues and greys, the shades of a winter’s night in a magical landscape. No Disney glitz here!

Richard Collingridge writes and illustrates his own stories, a skill I’ve always admired, and both aspects of ‘When It Snows’ are outstanding.  It's true that the story follows a traditional pattern, with the boy narrator setting out on a journey, to exciting destinations: ‘the place where the snowmen live’, ‘the gloomy forest, Where I meet the Queen of the Poles’ and finally ‘a secret place’ where he finds Santa Claus. What makes this is story different is the twist the writer puts on these traditional elements. I especially love the idea of Santa having just one giant reindeer! 

There’s a delightful ending too, where the child narrator tells us that he can find these places again, at any time, by opening his favourite book.

This is a story about imagination, fairy tale, myth and magic, just a step away from a child's real world. Recently, there was the case of a vicar who baldly told children that Santa Claus doesn’t exist. How short sighted of him!  How wrong to limit a child’s dreams and imagination!  This lovely book says ‘There might be,’ ‘There could be’, ’Wouldn’t it be wonderful if-‘.  I prefer that approach. It was the one I took with my own children, adding ‘no one’s ever seen him, so we just don’t know.’ I wish I’d been able to share 'When It Snows’ with them. I’m sure it would have become a Christmas favourite.

Highly recommended for age 5+

'When It Snows' by Richard Collingridge, publ. David Fickling Books

Pauline Chandler

www.paulinechandler.com   

     

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The Fairytale Hairdresser and Father Christmas, by Abie Longstaff and Lauren Beard. Reviewed by Saviour Pirotta

TITLE: THE FAIRYTALE HAIRDRESSER AND FATHER CHRISTMAS
by Abie Longstaff and Lauren Beard
Published by Picture Corgi
Publication date: 24 September 2014
Paperback

Abie Longstaff and Lauren Beard's Fairytale Hairdresser series continues with a seasonal instalment that pits Kittie the hairdresser against the infamous Snow Queen.

It's the season to be jolly and Kittie is worked off her feet coiffuring various celebrity customers.  But when she clocks in at Santa's workshop to see to the elves' hair, she discovers that someone has stolen the presents meant for the inhabitants in fairyland.   Who could the culprit be and why would they seek to ruin everyone's Christmas?

Longstaff's adventure moves at a cracking pace, seamlessly binding new plot and fairy tale elements. The story begs to be read again and again while Beard's illustrations yields extra gems. As in the previous books featuring Kittie, there are a lot of visual puns.  The spreads showing Santa's workshops and the ice-skating ring at the end are especially delightful.

A grand pantomime of a book, not to be missed.

Reviewed by Saviour Pirotta

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THE FAIRYTALE HAIRDRESSER AND SLEEPING BEAUTY, by Abie Longstaff and Lauren Beard

Modern takes on classic folk and fairytales are very in at the moment, with big budget reboots of Snow White, Hansel and Gretel and Jack And The Beanstalk all hitting the silver screen in the last couple of years.  Now Abie Longstaff and Lauren Beard bring the concept to the 3-6 year reading group with their hilarious series about Kittie Lacey, hairdresser to the celebs of Fairytale Land.

In THE FAIRYTALE HAIRDRESSER AND SLEEPING BEAUTY, Kittie feels ashamed that her once-trendy looking garden is now all overgrown and unkept.  But someone she knows has an even bigger problem, something not even a good shampoo and set can solve.  Princess Rose from the nearby castle has fallen asleep and not even her godparents, the fairies, seem able to wake her up.  Can Prince Florian, hired to tidy up Kittie's garden strim his way through the thick hedge around the castle and wake up the princess?

Longstaff's text romps cheekily through this fast paced fairytale, making it an enjoyable and effortless read.  There are lots of in-jokes for those that know the original story well and the children I read the book to appreciated every single one of them.  Lauren Beard's illustrations are bright and blocky. They had the readers in my group reaching for their colouring pencils trying to emulate them.  A very enjoyable romp!

Saviour Pirotta
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LITTLE EVIE IN THE WILD WOOD, by Jackie Morris and Catherine Hyde. Reviewed by Saviour Pirotta

• Author: Jackie Morris
• Illustrator: Catherine Hyde
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children's Books (1 Aug 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1847803717
• ISBN-13: 978-1847803719

A new Jackie Morris picture book is always something to look forward to.  Her texts, often lyrical and always evocative, have a haunting quality that stays with you for a long time. Her exquisite, detailed, jewel-like illustrations match the text completely, usually providing an extra layer of meaning to the story.

In Little Evie In The Dark Wood, she excels herself with a simple story that takes Little Red Riding
Hood as its starting point but moves in an unexpected and beguiling direction.  Little Evie, dressed in a red coat, skips over the stile at the end of the path and enters the unchartered territory of the wild wood.  She has with her a picnic basket.  The animals in the wood all sound a warning, but who is Evie likely to run into and what will happen when she does?

The beautiful text is a perfect foil for Catherine Hyde's illustrations, broad canvasses full of earthy tones that hum with life and colour.  A perfect little treat of a book.  Read it at bedtime or take with you on a picnic and share in the great outdoors.

Saviour Pirotta

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