This is truly a beautiful tale with stunning illustrations.

As in many classic tales for children we have a child imprisoned by evil relatives and in this case we have Clementine used as a servant to her evil aunt Vermilia and Uncle Rufus. The story takes place against a Victorian backdrop and the grime and darkness of the period is wonderfully captured. Clementine’s journey to escape the clutches of the wicked relatives is fast paced. With the support of Gilbert the cat, she battles to escape the darkness of her cellar to finally reach her envisioned Magical Place

The story is beautifully told with a language that pulls you in and lets your imagination picture scenes and empathise with Clementine’s dilemmas. But it is ultimately the illustrations of Chris Wormell that steal the show. They are enchanting and humorous and entailed to an extent that every emotion of the characters is clearly displayed to further enhance the tale. There is a charming classic feel to the imagery reminiscent of Edward Ardizzone’s in Stig of The Dump or Garth Williams’ and Charlotte’s Web.

This book is perfect to be read by or read to children from 7-10 . I would highly recommend this to challenge year 2 readers but would make an excellent story for drama and writing activities with lower KS 2 learners.

It’s important that we encourage children to read with love and enjoyment and broaden their pallete of authors so step away from Mr Walliams and next time get this for your children.

Thank you so much to David Fickling Books and Netgalley for the ebook to read and review.

A young girl is trapped in a house with two cruel thieving adults who treat her as though everything bad or every little mistake is her fault. She dreams of a Magic Place far away with mountains and beautiful colours, looking for any sort of sunlight down in her dark basement room.

This story was really interesting and sad but fun. The adults were horrible through and through which helped you really feel even more for Clementine. Whilst reading all I wanted her to do was escape, I kept saying in my head get out whilst you can. I really felt for her. The cat Gilbert you’ll adore him, the one character that comes and goes and interacts with every character and also helps to make life better for Clementine.

The story honestly wasn’t what I was thinking or expecting it was going to be, I really enjoyed it, it had lots of magic, lots of sweetness, lots of sadness and lots of humour too. The ending was perfect and rounded off the story perfectly.

From the start of meeting one character in the story (will give no spoilers) I personally knew who he was going to be and why he was there and I was very glad that I was right. What an adventure he had to keep going on.

I haven’t yet mentioned probably the funniest part of the story and when you read it you’ll laugh too, several times through the story one little dog gathers up so many more dogs and all they participate in a huge chase. I will not state the cause or reason (spoilers) but my goodness it will have you laughing so much when you get to it.

This book was a really unique book, a very original concept and had some elements similar to that of Roald Dahl’s books. A sweet lead that you feel an utter connection too, a pair of odious evil adults who you cannot wait for something bad to happen too and a dream that centres the heart of the lead.

I really enjoyed this book, it was an easy, fun, funny, sad sweet book; the chapters are very entertaining and it will keep you heavily engaged in the story the whole time. You won’t want to be done until you’ve gotten to the last page.

As an additional note, I loved the illustrations they were so beautiful and also that they were part of the story, the story itself referenced to an image that was surrounding it, I loved that originality and that they became interactive as such, perfect addition to this book.

I really enjoyed this short book. The narrative style was different to a lot of children's books that I have read recently, and I thought it was a good choice for the story.
Clementine was a lovely protagonist who I instantly felt a connection with.
Her Aunt and Uncle were some of the vilest villains I have read (great for the story line!), and this helped to add suspense and tension to the plot.
I thought the story had a really beautiful ending, and it kept me entertained and interested all the way through.
A great read!

Thanks to Chris Wormell, David Fickling Books and NetGalley for the advance review copy go The Magic Place.

Well what an unexpected treat this was! My daughter is 7 and we absolutely love reading books together before bed, reading a page each and sharing the experience. This book is perfect for that. It is written in an incredibly engaging way that just begs to be read aloud, asking questions, encouraging participation and leaving both children (and the grown ups!) keen to find out what happens next.

In the Magic Place we meet Clementine, a young girl who is living with her evil Aunt and Uncle, where she is trapped in the cellar and forced to cook and clean for them. Her only happiness comes when she puts her head into the old fireplace and looks up - seeing the little square of sky above her house. When she lets herself dream of freedom - she pictures a land full of greenery and blue skies - 'the magic place', and hopes one day to find it. When one day she finds the opportunity to escape, her and her beloved cat venture off to try and find the Magic Place once and for all.

The chapters In The Magic Place are short and manageable (so you can read a few together in one sitting) and the book has beautiful illustrations throughout that really help bring the story to life. We very much found ourselves saying "one more chapter' because we were urged to keep on reading. Overall a really lovely story of hope, friendship and never giving up!

4/5

I am passionate about reading books aloud and this book is made just for that. It is an extraordinary book which combines great narrative with utterly stunning illustrations and both directly addresses the reader and uses the illustrations to engage and ask questions. The evil characters are just that and all children and those readers who are still young at heart will watch with glee as the story unfolds. The author is able to change mood and pace effortlessly and this makes the book a joy on so many levels. I am looking forward enormously to reading it aloud again as soon as possible.

With enormous thanks to the publisher ame NetGalley for a magical afternoon of reading.

The Magic Place is a beautiful book about hope and the search for home. Words and illustrations work together to tell this tale and I love how intertwined they are, working together in a way that feels fresh and original. Chris Wormell breaks the fourth wall by not only talking to the reader, but also by using the text to point out and reveal details within the illustrations. I’ve never seen text and picture used in such an integrated way and I really enjoyed how they worked together to tell the story.

Clementine has never known life outside of the cellar that she lives in. Treated appallingly by her guardians, her wicked aunt and uncle, she dreams of a magic place far removed from her windowless world. With the help of her only friend, a cat called Gilbert, she embarks on the adventure of a life time. Will she ever escape the evil clutches of her carers or is she destined to remain in the dark forever?

The story has a Dahl-esque quality to it and reminded me of The Twits. It would be a great story to share aloud. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.