Open main menu

Spells by Emily Gravett

Revision as of 12:43, 5 March 2018 by Sue (talk | contribs)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)


A frog discovers a book, but he wishes it was a boat, so he tears and folds the pages to turn it into the boat. He soon tires of that game, and wishes it was a castle, so he tears and folds it again, as well as cutting out a model of a beautiful princess. As fun as his new game is, it lacks a certain reality. Spotting that it's actually a book of spells, he sets about putting together the torn bits of paper, so he can turn himself into a prince.

Spells by Emily Gravett

0230531369.jpg
Buy Spells by Emily Gravett at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Category: For Sharing
Rating: 4.5/5
Reviewer: Keith Dudhnath
Reviewed by Keith Dudhnath
Summary: Emily Gravett does it again! Children will love creating hybrid creatures as a frog tries to get the right spell to turn himself into a prince. The interaction isn't tacked on, and will delight every young child.
Buy? Yes Borrow? Yes
Pages: 32 Date: October 2009
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-0230531369

Share on: Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn



Emily Gravett's recent book The Rabbit Problem was a joy of paper engineering, and whilst Spells isn't as detailed, the same sense of fun is strong throughout. It involves pages cut in half widthways, allowing the spells and their results to be mixed and matched. Children will love playing with them, creating fabbits, snewts and nirds. It would be very easy for this to just be a simple toy, but there is a strong narrative; the interaction is appropriate rather than tacked on, and it works perfectly.

As always with Emily Gravett's work, the illustrations are superb. They have a timeless quality, which make this and all her books particularly good present choices. There are a healthy smattering of comic touches throughout, with the twist in the tail being particularly good fun. It's brimming with the atmosphere of fairy tales, dusty old spell books, and that whole magical world. It's a real joy to read.

Any children who haven't yet learned to read themselves will love Spells, and will get the joke. Even those who can read will enjoy sneaking a peek and playing with the various hybrid creatures. It'd be great to read to young 'uns over Halloween: it's brimming with atmosphere, but there's nothing scary or inappropriate for even the most sensitive of souls. Highly recommended.

Oh, and Emily Gravett's website has a number of games and activities, including a wordsearch based on Spells.

My thanks to the publishers for sending it to Bookbag.

For more gentle spookiness, check out Trixie The Witch's Cat by Nick Butterworth. If castles and princes are your thing, Small Knight and George and the Royal Chocolate Cake by Ronda Armitage and Arthur Robins is great fun, and comes with a delicious recipe for chocolate cake.

Booklists.jpg Spells by Emily Gravett is in the Top Ten Picture Books For Halloween.

Please share on: Facebook Facebook, Follow us on Twitter Twitter and Follow us on Instagram Instagram

Buy Spells by Emily Gravett at Amazon You can read more book reviews or buy Spells by Emily Gravett at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
Buy Spells by Emily Gravett at Amazon You can read more book reviews or buy Spells by Emily Gravett at Amazon.com.

Comments

Like to comment on this review?

Just send us an email and we'll put the best up on the site.