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alexandramilne 's review for:
The Snow Spider
by Jenny Nimmo
Read my other book reviews at booksibled.wordpress.com
I’ll admit, November has not been kind to me and I’m not so sorry to see it come to an end but it has given a few things to help me muddle along and one of them is The Snow Spider. It’s another children’s book but that doesn’t surprise me. Something promising I have taken from this challenge over the past year has been how much better children’s literature seems now as opposed to when I was young. I remember shelves full of brightly colours rubbish. I’ve always hated Jacqueline Wilson books and yet, when I was young, that was all anyone would talk about. Instead I threw myself into older books like the jungle book and Swallows and Amazons and that’s why I’m rather surprised that I’d never even heard of this fantastic book.
The Snow Spider is the first in a trilogy set in rural Wales in the 80’s. The story revolves around a little boy called Gwyn whose grandmother brings him five gifts for his 9th birthday: a brooch, a piece of dried seaweed, a tin whistle, a scarf, and a broken toy horse. The gifts are supposed to help him to discover his talent as a great magician which have been passed down to him by his ancestors, famous magicians in the Mabinogion (the book of Welsh myths and legends). Gwyn uses the gifts to try and find his lost sister and accidentally brings a dark power to his little town.Firstly it’s so lovely to have a book set in rural Wales. Any Wales is nice but I spent some really happy years in a little welsh town surrounded by countryside and sheep…lots of sheep. So it’s nice to have a little reminder of a place I try to remember fondly. Another marvelous thing about the Welshness of this book is the use of the Mabinogion. In the grand scheme of things people tend to pass over much of British myth for Romans, Greeks, Native American and some Asian offerings and while these are all excellent, there is so much more to the legendary history of the British Isles than just King Arthur and Robin Hood. In particular, the Welsh legends are rich and enthralling and even more overlooked (as much of Britain that isn’t England is) by the rest of the world. I highly recommend the Mabinogion but that is not the book I’m meant to be talking about so I’d best get on with it.
I’m really pleased that this book had a male protagonist. There are many books and shows that see magic as a more feminine past-time unless it’s used violently, for criminal gain or on stage. Magic is superstition and fancy and to do with nature and that makes it a feminine thing, well not in this book. True Gwyn is introduced to his powers by a female family member but he learns to use them alone, he cares for the snow spider that he conjures and even when he is confronted by hardship and evil he only uses violence once and instantly regrets it. Gwyn was a really engaging character and I loved the depth he brought to the story.The underlying issue of the disappearance of Bethan, Gwyn’s older sister, the year before added a sense of threat to Gwyn’s story. His parents are trying to make the best of things but are obviously struggling. Once again, it was nice to see that it was the father who was struggling the most with the loss of his daughter, defying expectations. The experience of loss, and the difficulties that arise from not knowing if your loved one is alive or dead, was beautifully handled and I got a real sense of calm from reading this book. I can’t wait to read the others in the series.
P.S. This book is a beautiful children’s tale of myth and magic that focuses on the loss and gains of a little Welsh boy as he discovers secrets about his past and helps to pick up the pieces of his grieving family.
I’ll admit, November has not been kind to me and I’m not so sorry to see it come to an end but it has given a few things to help me muddle along and one of them is The Snow Spider. It’s another children’s book but that doesn’t surprise me. Something promising I have taken from this challenge over the past year has been how much better children’s literature seems now as opposed to when I was young. I remember shelves full of brightly colours rubbish. I’ve always hated Jacqueline Wilson books and yet, when I was young, that was all anyone would talk about. Instead I threw myself into older books like the jungle book and Swallows and Amazons and that’s why I’m rather surprised that I’d never even heard of this fantastic book.
The Snow Spider is the first in a trilogy set in rural Wales in the 80’s. The story revolves around a little boy called Gwyn whose grandmother brings him five gifts for his 9th birthday: a brooch, a piece of dried seaweed, a tin whistle, a scarf, and a broken toy horse. The gifts are supposed to help him to discover his talent as a great magician which have been passed down to him by his ancestors, famous magicians in the Mabinogion (the book of Welsh myths and legends). Gwyn uses the gifts to try and find his lost sister and accidentally brings a dark power to his little town.Firstly it’s so lovely to have a book set in rural Wales. Any Wales is nice but I spent some really happy years in a little welsh town surrounded by countryside and sheep…lots of sheep. So it’s nice to have a little reminder of a place I try to remember fondly. Another marvelous thing about the Welshness of this book is the use of the Mabinogion. In the grand scheme of things people tend to pass over much of British myth for Romans, Greeks, Native American and some Asian offerings and while these are all excellent, there is so much more to the legendary history of the British Isles than just King Arthur and Robin Hood. In particular, the Welsh legends are rich and enthralling and even more overlooked (as much of Britain that isn’t England is) by the rest of the world. I highly recommend the Mabinogion but that is not the book I’m meant to be talking about so I’d best get on with it.
I’m really pleased that this book had a male protagonist. There are many books and shows that see magic as a more feminine past-time unless it’s used violently, for criminal gain or on stage. Magic is superstition and fancy and to do with nature and that makes it a feminine thing, well not in this book. True Gwyn is introduced to his powers by a female family member but he learns to use them alone, he cares for the snow spider that he conjures and even when he is confronted by hardship and evil he only uses violence once and instantly regrets it. Gwyn was a really engaging character and I loved the depth he brought to the story.The underlying issue of the disappearance of Bethan, Gwyn’s older sister, the year before added a sense of threat to Gwyn’s story. His parents are trying to make the best of things but are obviously struggling. Once again, it was nice to see that it was the father who was struggling the most with the loss of his daughter, defying expectations. The experience of loss, and the difficulties that arise from not knowing if your loved one is alive or dead, was beautifully handled and I got a real sense of calm from reading this book. I can’t wait to read the others in the series.
P.S. This book is a beautiful children’s tale of myth and magic that focuses on the loss and gains of a little Welsh boy as he discovers secrets about his past and helps to pick up the pieces of his grieving family.