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nicktomjoe's reviews
945 reviews
The Dream Snatcher by Abi Elphinstone
4.0
A powerful story drawing on real Romany traditions, and set in a beech forest, this is a book full of dangerous exploits, half- understood relationships and family history. It's complex, but Abi Elphinstone works hard to bring it all to a satisfyingly Gothic final battle, with creatures formed from swarming bats, and horrendous, maggot-eaten faces.
Moll, the protagonist, finds something of who she is, discovers something of her place in her adoptive family. The relationship between Moll and Gryff the wildcat owes a lot to the bond between Lyra and her daemon Pantalaimon in Philip Pullman's masterpiece trilogy, and maybe wild Moll herself is drawn from Pullman's rebellious heroine, remade in a different context and for (perhaps) a younger audience with similar Pullmanesque tastes.
Moll, the protagonist, finds something of who she is, discovers something of her place in her adoptive family. The relationship between Moll and Gryff the wildcat owes a lot to the bond between Lyra and her daemon Pantalaimon in Philip Pullman's masterpiece trilogy, and maybe wild Moll herself is drawn from Pullman's rebellious heroine, remade in a different context and for (perhaps) a younger audience with similar Pullmanesque tastes.
Noggin and the Dragon by Oliver Postgate
4.0
Noggin chooses Thor Nogson to take the little children out for a night walk. In a parable about expectations around risky play, it is the children who turn out to be more resourceful than the pusillanimous Thor - I'll avoid the spoilers about the dragon!
The illustrations are subtler than one might first thing: the growing worry in the ageing Thor Nogson's face sits at a distance from the sureness he claims he has as he sets out. This is a beautiful little book, with the clean, crisp sentences that marked all the Postgate/Smallfilms scripts.
The illustrations are subtler than one might first thing: the growing worry in the ageing Thor Nogson's face sits at a distance from the sureness he claims he has as he sets out. This is a beautiful little book, with the clean, crisp sentences that marked all the Postgate/Smallfilms scripts.