One Snowy Day (Willow Valley) by Tracey Corderoy and Hannah Whitty

Willow Valley - A set of books about mice, hedgehogs and badgers. Presumably it's inspiration is The Wind in the Willows. So how does this book compare?

Well Wind in the Willows will never be surpassed, and this book is for early readers anyway so is aimed at a different audience. I read this book with my 6-year-old daughter at night-times. We took it in turns to read it. The layout of the words is that they are nice and big and spaced out so that she could easily follow it. There are several simple and clear pictures along the way too that aided her with picturing the text. These included a map of Willow Valley at the beginning, and maps in books are one of her favourite things.

The tale is about Riley the mouse, and his two friends Horatio the hedgehog and Starla the badger, as they prepare for Christmas. They need to get Christmas trees so go with Starla's granddad Willoughby White-Whiskers on his narrowboat. However after having great fun in picking out trees the snow comes and the way back is blocked because the river has turned to ice. Luckily a random reindeer called Mistletoe comes along to help them out and they get home in time for Christmas. The last chapter is devoted to present giving which my daughter seemed to enjoy, what with the magic of Christmas and so forth.

There was one dark bit in the book where it mentioned that Riley's dad had gone exploring once and disappeared in the Dark Wood, so I was surprised that was in there, but the rest was light and fluffy.

So perfectly suited towards its market.

(I got this book through Amazon Vine and it is listed on Amazon UK HERE.)

Fish Camping and Other Travel Stories by Matthias Leue

This is a book that I won in a Goodreads First Reads contest.

Essentially we have a travelogue of one person's holidays over the period 1996 to 2002 split into separate stories. For example the titular story "Fish Camping" is about camping in an aquarium for the night.

The pattern of the stories is summers in France, and the rest of time the occasional trip somewhere in the States, with visits being fleeting and food being prominent.

The best bits are the bits like "The grandeur of creation lets one fall silent with awe", less so the bits like "I don't recall what we had for dinner that night, and since Tom is on the road in an 18-wheeler somewhere right now, he is unavailable to jog my memory; and so, dear reader, I must apologize for depriving you of the evening's menu."

There are occasional pictures throughout, which I assume are the author's art, but no photos even though the author mentions many times about how photos were taken. However it may be because the book is black and white that they were excluded for that reason.

There were also some interesting bits missed out I think. The author talks of living in a church because he has no home, then a loft where "the landlords were willing to accept me despite my ruined credit" but that is all the detail we get, although off topic the reasons behind this would have been interesting.

Overall then the book is ok, the author is pleasant enough, but the places visited are passed through swiftly and the book becomes a bit repetitive as you go through it.

This book is listed on Amazon UK here.

A Conspiracy of Alchemists by Liesel Schwarz

The book starts off at a great pace with much intrigue surrounding a box that Eleanor (Elle) Chance, a female dirigible pilot, has been tasked with transporting. But straight away there is a chase as the box obviously contains something of value. 

And after a rip-roaring start the pace slows a bit and Elle manages to escape to Oxford with her companions Patrice and Mr Marsh but finds out that her father has been kidnapped. Bit-by-bit, with the help (or hindrance) of Mr Marsh or Lord Greychester as he is otherwise known, she learns about the magic in the world, about the light and the shadow and her role in it all. But can she believe him?

Set in Edwardian times I thought the start was brilliant, as were the other fast-paced parts of the book. The slower parts though didn’t hold the interest as much but I suppose were necessary to slowly reveal all the many bits and pieces about all the magic in the world etc.

The conversation between the characters was good at the beginning with the characters being polite in the Edwardian manner, but still managing to spark against each other.

The ending was clever too in that there was a clear ending followed by an epilogue which nicely set the book up for the sequel that is due to follow later in the year.

All-in-all a good debut.

(I got this book through Amazon Vine. It is listed here.)

Natalie the Christmas Stocking Fairy by Daisy Meadows

This book was a Christmas present for my 6-year-old daughter Natalie. She obviously loved it, not only because the star fairy in the book shared her name, but also because of the story.

The story follows friends Rachel and Kirsty and their adventures over one Christmas Eve. First they have problems making mince pies which leads them to chase some Goblins and they end up getting beckoned to Fairyland to meet Natalie the Christmas Stocking Fairy who has had three enchanted items stolen: a mince-pie, a stocking and a candy cane. Without these items there will be no mince-pies, no stockings and no sweets at Christmas. The girls then help Natalie to retrieve them.

The book is arranged into three parts which were written as three separate stories and then bundled together as one book, which leads to a little bit of clunkiness between the three parts but that is the only complaint really.

The rest of the book has everything little girls love: best friends, fairies, a fast-moving story of good versus evil, plenty of clear and simple pictures along the way to bring the text alive. It reminded me very much of the Secret Kingdom books I've been reading with my daughter too, so if you liked this you may want to check them out.

Anyway it is only right I give my last words of this review to my daughter Natalie: "The book was fun because Jack Frost was trying to destroy Christmas. He took the three items, but the goblins and Jack Frost didn't like them so gave them back to make Christmas good again. And the two girls, Rachel and Kirsty turned into fairies by magic."

(This book is listed on Amazon UK here.)

Sun Catcher by Sheila Rance

At first glance upon receiving this novel I was impressed. The cover was glossy and beautiful. Flicking through the book too revealed lovely pictures heading up each chapter.

The story was equally impressive. Maia lives in a land of cliff dwellers with her father the crippled-weaver Tareth. Together they arrive there as outsiders, plucked from the sea, but are accepted into the community. Alongside them are other communities such as those that look after the lizards, the Marsh Lords with their horses, the traders etc.

Then slowly bits of Maia’s past and future are revealed. She is the designated sun catcher in a land without sun and must rescue that place from the rule of the evil queen and king.

And so the quest is set in this, although first part of a trilogy, completely self-contained story. Reading the book what came across was a love of nature what with the animals such as the leopard, eagle, lizard and moths that adorn the cover. Plus the animals have names, and the relationships with the humans are close, together with a touch of magic.

I can definitely see why the author is being hyped up so much by her publishers. A brilliant debut.

(I got this book through Amazon Vine. It is listed here.)

Stitch Head: The Ghost of Grotteskew by Guy Bass

I read this book to my 6-year-old over a few bedtimes. First thing to say is that I didn’t realise it was a sequel until I looked on Amazon for Stitch Head and found it was the third book in the series. That is a plus as it means it is self-contained story not relying on knowledge from the other books, although obviously having read those too would be an advantage as characters appear in all of them.

Stitch Head is a creation made by Professor Erasmus Erasmus, but it turns out that the heart used in creating him was the wicked heart of Mawley Crackbone, a notorious criminal from ye olden days. Well Mawley returns as a ghost to reclaim his heart, convincing Stitch Head to give him control of his body, leading to disaster. But all turns out well in the end.

Despite the ghosts and the Frankenstein-like creations in this book it isn't scary and young kids should be fine with it (in fact the trailer below for the first book in the series is scarier than this book). And there are plenty of well put together black-and-white pictures to accompany the story too, plus short chapters that should make it ok for young ‘uns to listen to and maybe read too, although it hasn't been dumbed down meaning there will be some hard words as well as made up words from the likes of the creation Pox.

(I got this book through Amazon Vine. It is listed here.)