The Hoozles: My Magical Teddy by Jessie Little
| The Hoozles: My Magical Teddy by Jessie Little | |
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| Category: Confident readers | |
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Reviewer: Ruth Ng
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| Summary: Sweet little stories or magical toys that come to life. Good for younger girls who want to read by themselves. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 64 | Date: June 2010 |
| Publisher: Faber and Faber | |
| ISBN: 978-0571247912 | |
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Willow and her brother Freddie have gone to stay in Summertown with their Aunt Suzy whilst their parents are away for the summer. Aunt Suzy owns a toy shop in town, and she makes her own special Hoozle soft toys. Willow and Freddie each have a Hoozle of their own that their Aunt made for them - Willow has Toby the teddy bear and Freddie has Wobbly the Lion. Willow loves Toby dearly, but it isn't until she is staying with her aunt that she discovers that Toby can come to life and talk to her and she can talk to him! And so begins a summer full of magical adventures for Willow and the Hoozles.
I thought this was a sweet idea for a story. I was very attached to my own dear Teddy when I started school, so much so that he had to come along with me every day. Fortunately I had a very understanding teacher who not only gave Teddy his own reading book for class but she also added him to the register and would call out every morning 'Teddy Neilson?' and I would reply with a happy 'Yes Miss!' Anyway, you can tell I would have been the target market for this kind of story, can't you?
Along with Willow and Freddie's Hoozles, Aunt Suzy has three more sitting on a shelf in the toy shop who are able to help Suzy out on her adventures. There is also a rogue Hoozle, Croc, who was abandoned by his owner and is now terribly embittered and spends his every waking moment trying to wreck the lives of his fellow Hoozles. This sounds dramatic but it's all quite tame and gentle. No nightmares here. In this first story in the series Willow finds out for the first time that the Hoozles are 'alive', and is caught up in an adventure when Croc steals the pocket heart from Wobbly Lion. (A pocket heart is a small item that the child places into the little pocket that is sewn into each Hoozle. It forms a bond between the child and the Hoozle and without it the Hoozle feels very poorly.)
The next three books in the series continue along the same lines, with Willow going on more adventures with Toby as she tries to stop Croc from stealing Aunt Suzy's Hoozle making bag, from destroying the village's special window displays and from ruining a big parade. Each book is fairly self contained so could be read separately without losing out too much on the overall story although I can see young children would get hooked after reading the first one and would be keen to follow them in order to see more of naughty Croc. I sense that these are stories that are more for girls than for boys. There is a boy of Suzy's age who gets a Hoozle in one of the stories but even so the books feel quite girly to me and I was a little dubious that any little boy older than about 6 or so would be seen carrying a stuffed toy around town...
There are lovely black and white illustrations by Penny Dann through the books that add more to the story and help to break up the text making it more palatable for those more used to picture books. The series is probably best for early readers, so those who have passed the basic first readers stage and want to move onto something a little bit more grown up, with chapters and longer, more challenging words and phrases to get to grips with. There's nothing terribly difficult here but I liked that the language wasn't overly simplified and felt reasonably natural. Each book is less than 60 pages long, and they all have 6 chapters. You could probably use them as bedtime stories for those just starting out at school and unable to read by themselves, although I suspect some parents would find them a little tame to read aloud. They're perfect for little girls interested in magic and teddies and toys however. I personally liked the parts with Croc the best as he's so grumpy and such an interesting character. I'm intrigued to see how the series pans out - will anyone ever love Croc again and give him a home, or is his heart to be forever broken and he'll be bitter and twisted to the end?!
I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to The Bookbag.
Further reading suggestion: Other stories to try for those just starting to master reading are those by Sue Mongredien or this fairy story.
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You can read more book reviews or buy The Hoozles: My Magical Teddy by Jessie Little at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
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