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Clover Twig and the Incredible Flying Cottage by Kaye Umansky (view source)
Revision as of 08:56, 5 September 2020
, 08:56, 5 September 2020no edit summary
Reading this book, my first thought was that it was a brilliant mix of ''Heggety Haggety'' meets ''The Wishing Chair''. The writing is certainly reminiscent of Enid Blyton, with some great descriptions and healthy characters. The writing is not difficult (and there are only a smattering of dubiously spelt parts like the extract above) and there are lots of pictures included to break up the text and, at parts, to continue the story.
It's an easy book because there are not too many twists or turns, and you know from the start who is good, who is questionable and who you definitely have to boo and hiss at. However its not a babyish book, helped by the various themes which emerge – good versus evil, for example, which can be interpreted on many levels depending on the age and ability of the reader. Readers will also the love the brilliant names of the characters and the local villages, and the funny characters and silly stories, like the humongous gaoler and his unrequited love for a sniffly, skinny woman. The magic is straight-forward to a certain degree, and therefore appealing to children who would also wish, if given free reign rein of a magic kingdom, for the chance to become invisible, or to fly, or to change the weather on a whim.
Fans of this genre might also enjoy tales of [[The Worst Witch to the Rescue by Jill Murphy|the Worst Witch]] while younger readers might prefer the escapades of the students at [[The Magic Begins (Charm Hall) by Tabitha Black|Charm Hall]] . [[Jessica Juniper (Kingdom of the Frosty Mountains) by Emerald Everhart]] is pink and glittery but we think that ''Clover Twig is by far the better book.
Thank you to the publishers for supplying this book.