Changes

Although I felt it lacked some strong characterisation, and the big baddie really didn't seem quite bad enough to me, I am being perhaps an overly critical grown up as it is still a very good adventure story and one that I would have found thrilling as a child. My daughter still loves it, and it was the first longer chapter book that she really got her teeth into entirely by herself. It set her on a spurt of reading fantasy fiction, and I think it's an excellent entry-level book to that genre. It is very long for those just setting out in their longer chapter books, but it is easily readable, simple to follow, and without anything too horribly scary it's safe for solo-reading at night time. I personally think Inkheart, also by Funke, is a much better book (and definitely one to read) but this is a still a good adventure story.

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