Quercus Children’s Books ISBN 9781848668621 £12.99
I picked up this book with considerable anticipation both on merit of the author and the fact that it is a Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize winner. Yet I found it very difficult to access with my children’s fiction ‘hat’ on and constantly felt, as I read, that I was missing something. Granted, it is an enormous feat of the imagination in its exploration of a surreal world where it appears that toys come to life and battles must be won, and I appreciate how this is dealing with the ultimate outcome presented in the book, that of the death of a child. Yet, I felt that at times that the prose was rather pondering and not guaranteed to hold the attention of some of the children teachers most want to access fiction – particularly children who have had to deal with bereavement in their own lives. There were certainly some high points: I loved the reference to ‘You mean if it feels real then it is real’ for example, but gems like this were ultimately too few to keep me engaged. I feel a little guilty for not loving this evidently quality book by a hugely esteemed author but I’m sure I cannot be the only one.
Laura Manison Shore, Senior Lecturer in Early Years & Primary Education, UWE, Bristol
