The Wishing Spell

Title: The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell
Author: Chris Colfer
Genre: Children's book, Children's Fantasy
Source: Library Hardback
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 paws




Twins, Alex and Connor Bailey have just celebrated their 12th birthday, one year after the death of their father.  They both struggle in school and their mom is working hard to make ends meet.  For their birthday their grandma comes to visit and gifts them with a story book: The Land of Stories.  Alex becomes obsessed with the book and locks herself in her room.  One day she confides in Connor about the book making sounds and glowing.  Then they fall into the book and go on an epic quest to find the ingredients for the Wishing Spell so they can go home.  But this is not going to be an easy task as they have to travel to different kingdoms to get items that are rather sentimental to their owners such as Cinderella's glass slipper or bark from Red Riding Hood's basket.  But the Evil Queen is also hunting for these books as well as the Bad Wolf club out hunting for the kids to stop them.  Will the twins find the items they need before the Evil Queen?  Will they find their way home in time or are they trapped inside the Land of Stories forever?

I am a fan of Glee and when I saw the Chris Colfer who played Kurt had written a book of course I wanted to read it.  It is a book that tends to be up my alley with taking a different look at classic fairy tales that we have grown up with and know so well.  Colfer takes a very different look at these tales and comes with explanations for things that sometimes don't add up such as how can Snow White, Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), and Cinderella all marry Prince Charming??  Easy they are brothers!!




This was a fun book to read and the world he creates is beautiful.  He fills it with interesting and charming characters and gives fairy tale fans a different view of these characters.  The writing could be a little...simplistic at times, but then again this was a book geared towards middle school children not 30 year old women.  He tells the story rather than showing the story that some readers would be more used to, but again the way he tells the story gets a younger reader interested and entertained.  Longer sentences with a lot of description may not appeal to a reader of that age.  There is a certain beautiful quality to Colfer's writing that brings the tale to life.  You can tell there is a talent for story telling within these pages.

Colfer has a lot to offer within his book; it is an enchanting, enthralling tale that sends it's main characters on a magical scavenger hunt.  There is something new in each chapter.  I thought I had the small mystery solved, and I was only half right, but it was still entertaining to find out certain twists and turns to the tale.  I enjoyed how he gives the Evil Queen a small back story and makes her not so evil after all. 

While there were many things great about this book, there were some things that dropped the rating down a bit such as the over use of the same description: Steam coming from ears/nose/mouth, oddly placed similes, rigid dialogue.  Despite all that overall I thought it was a good book, and am interested to see where he takes the series. I felt it was a cute story that I can a younger reading and enjoying.  I think this is a great book that would get children not only using their imagination, but interested in reading on a bigger level.  It draws on stories they already know and can get them thinking about the stories they are reading.

Magnus and The Jewelled Book of the Universe

Title: Magnus and the Jewelled Book of the Universe
Author: S.L Browne
Genre: Children's, Adventure, Fantasy
Source: Ebook - Netgalley
Rating: 3.5 out of 5


Magnus is a young boy who discovers he is actually from a tribe of Aliens known as Guardians of the Universe.  His mentor Marlo fears an evil wizard named Murdamond will try to destroy their planet after he has destroyed Earth.  Magnus discovers the evil wizard kidnapped his parents and is holding them hostage.  Now Magnus needs to not only save his parents, but also his planet and the whole universe from this evil man.    He utilizes all his power, his friendships with humans and dinosaurs as well as the Jewelled Book of the Universe (which decided it wanted to be a girl to make things interesting).  Will he be able to discover everything he needs to in time to save the world as he knows it?

Netgalley is one of my favorite places to find new books and new authors.  S.L. Browne is a new children's author and makes a name for herself with her debut novel.   While the title may be a mouth-full the story itself was very enjoyable to read and exciting for young readers.  The writing is simplistic, but again this is meant for children not adults.  It was very creative and descriptive that a child would love with characters a child would love as well. There isn't much depth to the characters or the story, but then again I am an adult reading from an adult POV.  It is a story of a young boy who discovers things about himself that he never knew, and comes to terms with those things as well as tries to save his parents. 


Brownes novel takes a look at some very adult themes such as greed and global awareness, and puts into a child-like perspective which is very well done and this book is a good way to introduce those things to young readers.  It doesn't seem like a lot happens in the story, but this is a part of series so it's common for the first book to sort of build things up for the next one, and to a child there may have been a lot of things happening.


As I was reading I thought to myself, would this have been a book I would have enjoyed as a kid of 7-9 years old and the answer is yes.  Children don't need long extensive books that delve deep into the woes of the world.  They need on that is appealing, easy to read and on their level, and that is exactly what Browne accomplished with her book.  I hope to see more from her (him?).

BFG

TItle: The BFG
AUthor: Roald Dahl
Genre: Children's Literature
SOurce: Kindle Ebook
Rating: 4 out of 5


A young girl Sophie, unable to sleep, sees a large, no a giant man blow something into the window of the house next door.  When he sees her in the window he snatches her up, and takes her home so that she doesn't tell anyone else.  There Sophie learns the other giants eat humans at night, including children.  Sophie also learns the BFG is not a human eating giant but one that spreads good dreams to children.  Sophie creates a plan to convince the queen of England to imprison the human eating giant where BFG creates a nightmare about it and leaves Sophie in her room to confirm.  A fleet of helicopters follow Sophie and BFG back home and capture the sleeping giants and imprison them in a pit.  A castle is built for BFG and a cabin next door for Sophie.  And BFG ends up writing a novel about their adventure which is aptly titled" The BFG."

I read this one because it was published the year I was born, and I have heard a lot of good things about but never had the chance to read it. It was interesting to say the least.  The giant's speech was a little rough to get used too, but I am sure as a child it would have been a lot of fun reading and trying to pronounce some words like Snozzcumbers. If it was getting confused as an adult, wouldn't children be getting a little confused as well?  I really got into this story and would like to see how the story adapted into the movie version that was recently released.  I loved movies like Charlie and The Chocolate Factory and Matilda, so maybe I will enjoy this one as well.

There are some things that I think may not have been good for children such as later on the novel a character talking about chopping off heads like one would chop parsley.  That's an odd image to give to children, maybe I thought of it differently because I am an adult reading it.  I don't normally read children's literature so I am not sure how different authors target their audience in the past nor the present, and this might be one of those ways: glossing over some adult themes with child-like innocence.  I did enjoy the book and would recommend it to others to read with their children.  The book was rather short so I see it as something that would be good for parents to read a chapter at night or even to use as a teaching tool to help their children read more, and read better.


Give it a shot and take a stab at reading this one, it's a children's classic.  I'll most likely add it to my children's shelf when I have them.

Glass Full of Rumors by A.M Marcus

A Glass Full of Rumors by A.M Marcus is a charming children's tale of a young boy with a friend who teaches him the meaning of friendship, how to handle bullies and why spreading rumors is not a good thing to do.  This is a cute little tale of children learning to be respectful of others and learning how to handle those who want to spread rumors and gossip.

I bought this book to use as a tool with the children that I work with, and it has been helpful in numerous different ways.  Those who deal with bullies at school learn how to ignore them and appreciate the friendships they have.  Others learn why it is harmful to spread rumors and things you hear from other people.  The illustrations in this book show the expressions and feelings that kids feel when bullied and spreading rumors.  This helps children visualize how it feels when someone bullies them or spreads mean rumors about them. 

Marcus uses Socrates to help explain how to decide if you should repeat something you heard.  While children in the 5-12 age range may not have heard of the philosopher, they can still relate to and visualize the questions being asked.  It opens the door for them to ask questions and learn more about philosophy.  I think this would be a great addition to child-care professionals and parents alike.  It can be used in many different ways for numerous years.  I give this book a 4.5 out of 5 rating.