Raring2go! Solihull

Raring2go! BOOK REVIEWS A tale as old as time This round up looks at books inspired by some of our oldest fairy tales and collections of stories, from familiar moments in history reimagined into magical fantasy to Cinderella, Rapunzel and The Arabian Nights. Moonchild – Voyage of the Lost and Found Aisha Bushby and Rachael Dean With its roots in The Arabian Nights, this fast-paced magical adventure has a wonderful cast of characters, from sea witches, to a colossal stormbird. Twelve-year-old Amira lives with her two sea-witch mothers on the oceans of the Sahar Peninsula, an enchanted realm which lies just beyond the horizon. She is never without her beloved companion, a cat jinni named Namur, who provides her with the magical ability to read people’s emotions. Following a raging storm, they dock at the island of Failak. Her mothers seem agitated when she befriends Leo, an inquisitive boy with a goldfish jinni, and Amira feels angry, and suspects they are keeping secrets from her. An amazing adventure unravels through the characters’ stories - stories told within stories. The first in a trilogy, it is accompanied by striking black-and- white illustrations which bring the characters and setting to life. Darwin’s Dragons Lindsay Galvin We all know how Charles Darwin set sail on HMS Beagle and formed his theory of evolution by observing the finches and reptiles of the Galapagos Islands, don’t we? Well maybe we haven’t been told quite the full story. In Darwin’s Dragons, Lindsay Galvin weaves well-researched historical fiction with magical fantasy and creates a wonderful tale of emerging science, shipwrecked sailors, volcanic islands and ..DRAGONS! In 1835 Cabin Boy Syms Covington is on the voyage of a lifetime, when he gets washed overboard in a storm. He washes up, alive but battered, on an unexplored island. As the grumbling volcano starts to erupt, there’s more than his own survival at stake. Kenilworth Books, Talisman Square, Kenilworth CV8 1JB Rumaysa: A Fairytale Radiya Hafiza and Rhaida El Touny Step into a ‘Once Upon a Time’ where anything is possible. Radiya Hafiza’s enchanting and funny debut weaves together three stories, updates them and then adds a twist and a little dance. ‘Rumaysa, Rumaysa, let down your hijab!’ For as long as she can remember Rumaysa has been locked away in her tower, forced to spin straw into gold for the evil, book-destroying Witch, unable to leave. Until one day, with the help of a talkative owl, Rumaysa drops her hijab out of her small tower-window and realises how she might be able to escape. A strange boy on a flying carpet turns up, looking for someone to rescue – too late as Rumaysa has already rescued herself. Rumaysa and her friends adventure through enchanted forests and into dragon’s lairs. They stumble into someone else’s story – Cinderayla, and then accidentally get involved with the snoring, slightly rude Sleeping Sara. Fun, energetic black and white illustrations bring the action to life as the stories unfolds. Knight Sir Louis and the Dreadful Damsel The Brothers McLeod Knight Sir Louis is the bravest knight at King Burt’s court. He has defeated hungry dragons, evil goblins and horrible wizards (but please nobody mention wasps, Knight Sir Louis is absolutely NOT afraid of them). Along with his trusty mechanical steed Clunkalot, and mystical sword (known as ‘Dave’), Knight Sir Louis and his friends are sent to do battle with the Damsel of Distresse, who has been terrorizing the land. Knight Sir Louis finds himself dealing with strong enchantments and powerful magic (as well as potatoes…) and his soon to be arch-enemy- nemesis: the Stripy Knight. A fun, totally upside-down tale of knights and damsels, with extremely silly illustrations too. Reviews by Tamsin Rosewell for Kenilworth Books 10 raring2go .co.uk