Tilly and the Bookwanderers by Anna James

This reminded me of what I love about children’s books and YA the willing suspension of disbelief required is refreshing. In any case, I’d like to think Tilly Pages and Meggie Folchart would be friends. It’s also aimed slightly younger, middle grade if I were to give it a category, whereas Inkheart is darker and more complex. There are parallels with the Inkheart trilogy, one of my own childhood favourites, though not so much as to overpower this story – it certainly stands up on its own. It’s undoubtedly a series written with book lovers in mind, the children who read under the covers with a torch well past bedtime. I didn’t really pick up this title so much as it was thrust into my hands by an excited group of Year 6s, raving about the series at our class book club. But once revealed, the truth is beyond anything she could ever have expected, or even believed … Together with Oskar, she visits the Bookwanderer headquarters, the British Underlibrary, where they meet the (perfectly named) chief Librarian, Amelia Whisper, and discover the full extent of their newfound talents not only are the pair able to interact with their favourite characters, but they can travel into the pages of the books themselves! There are, of course, rules, sternly enforced by another employee of the library, Enoch Chalk, the antithesis of the friendly Amelia, and of whose ulterior motives the children are immediately suspicious.ĭelving further into the uncharted territory of bookwandering, the friends’ adventures bring them closer to answers Tilly has longed for since her mother’s mysterious disappearance. During the summer the big fireplace behind the till was filled to bursting with fresh flowers, but as it was October a fire was roaring there.’īut when Tilly encounters two strangely familiar new friends, first Anne, “with an e” and then the inquisitive Alice, her family’s illustrious bookwandering history is revealed, setting in motion a chain of events that will change her life forever! When it was good weather the sun pooled on the floor and the bookshop cat – named Alice for her curious nature – could often be found dozing in the warmest spots. Tall arched windows made it feel a little like a church when the light spilled in and dust motes danced in the air. A spiral staircase danced up one wall, and painted wooden ladders stretched up into difficult-to-reach corners. ‘ The shop was made up of five floors of corners and cubbyholes, sofas and squashy armchairs, and a labyrinth of bookshelves heading off in different directions.

A slight departure from my last few reads but a welcome change!įollowing the bibliophilic adventures of Tilly Pages and her friend Oskar, this is the first book in what is now a series of five, with the fifth part, The Treehouse Library, publishing today in the UK!Īnna James opens the door to Pages & Co, run by Tilly’s grandparents Elsie and Archie, and surely the shop of any bookworm’s dreams!?

Tilly and the Bookwanderers by Anna James