Wondrous Prune fascinated me and was highly original. Prune was a wonderful Main Character and I learnt a lot about her and her relationships especially with her brother Jess and her Mum. Prune loves hard and this can clearly be seen but not only that she had quite a few different emotions which was portrayed in such a way that kept me captivated.

I also love how Ellie handled the topics of bullying and peer pressure

For all the above reasons The Wondrous Prune receives 4 stars

I’m always on the look out for diverse, fun middle grade books to recommend to our customers and this just made the top of the list!

I had such a great time reading this, it’s magical and imaginative but it also handles some issues and situations that I think a lot of the kids reading this will relate to. I think they’ll find Prune quite relatable and I can’t wait to see what comes next for the author!

Finally sat down to read The Wondrous Prune by @elliecwrites (cover illustration by @chaayaprabhat). A really lovely fantastical but real #UKMG (with a totally believable mum reaction). Thanks for sending me a proof @KidsBloomsbury, not long to wait for publication on 12th May! https://t.co/c8vaBEMCEa

Following a bereavement, Prune and her family move into her late grandmother’s house in a new town. Her mother works long hours and her brother seems to be preoccupied, so Prune doesn’t feel she can tell anyone that she’s being bullied at her new school. She keeps seeing colourful clouds too and even weirder -her drawings are coming to life! But when her brother falls into a spot of trouble, Prune realises that her new strange power could be the key to bringing her family back together. The Wondrous Prune is a beautiful story of siblingship and the real power of imagination. Prune is a very loveable heroine and there is some gorgeous imagery, as Prune’s art materialises. There was one part where I couldn’t stop the tears from escaping too but overall, it is full of hope and wonder.

This book is brilliantly fun and would be thoroughly enjoyed by children aged 8-10. Prune and her brother have been forced to move by their single-mum and are facing the challenges of a new neighbourhood and school. Bullied by her classmates, Prune has a rough start in her new school but one day something magical happens: her drawings start to come to life. The story follows Prune, her fascinating new magical ability and her desire to help her brother from going down a dangerous path. The imagery throughout the book is evocative and the moral provides the reader with the hope that everyone can change the world for the better. I would have fun with this book and a lower key stage 2 class, encouraging them to create their own powers for characters or to illustrate parts of the book themselves.

This is such a lovely middle grade story featuring an ordinary girl with an unusual superpower. I'm sure children are going to love this fantastic book, this big kid certainly did!

Prune, along with her mum and brother have moved to a different area with new schools and new challenges. Prune misses her old best friend, and is getting bullied. But one day she makes the most magical of discoveries about herself and her own powers, that help her with the problems she faces.

With gorgeous imagery, a strong voice, and a magical main character, this is a story about a young girl whose creativity helps her cope with the difficult things in her life and discovering herself and who she is. This is a heart warming read that will stay with me long after reading and I highly recommend it

At its core, the story is about the incredible healing power of art and creativity. Prune’s drawing skills help her cope with difficult life events and discover who she is. It's a heart warming and empowering story of self-discovery and family. A brilliant and highly recommended read!

I really enjoyed reading this book and can imagine that the children I teach will love it too. At the start of the story, Ellie Clements hooks you in by creating a mystery - why has Prune suddenly started seeing these colours and what do they mean? And as the story unfolds and she discovers her magical powers, it's exciting to find out what kind of drawings she brings to life. Alongside all the magical drama, Prune is also dealing with moving schools, meeting new friends and unfortunately meeting bullies at the same time. I liked the fact that the dangers Prune has to face are very realistic and things that children without magical powers might come across to. I also liked the way Prune didn't always turn to her powers to solve the problems. I think children will be able to relate to Prune and could see myself using this book in the classroom in a number of ways, including asking the children to write letters to Prune to offer her advice. I noticed a couple of hints that this might not be the last we hear of Prune and the Delmere community and I hope that I'm right as I'd love to see what lies in store for her next.

The Wondrous Prune

I was intrigued by the title of this magical middle grade book when I spotted it on NetGalley and thus delighted when I was approved to read an early e-ARC. It is a heart-warming tale of an ordinary Year 6 girl with an extraordinary gift!

Prune’s mother has inherited her late parents’ house, the home she grew up in as a child, and takes the opportunity to move the family away from their former home in a block of flats. We soon discover that Prune’s teenage brother Jesse had been hanging out with a friend called Bryce whom his mother and Prune both consider to be a bad influence, they hope that the move will break the connection and get Jesse’s life back on track. However, Prune misses her old life, her best friend Connie and the wonderful connection she had with Grandma Jean and Poppa B when they were alive. Although their former home holds many happy memories for her, she can’t help the sadness washing over her now that they are no longer around. And so the fantasy aspect to this contemporary story arrives, because every time that Prune begins to experience intense sadness or anxiety, her world suddenly fills with vivid colours which she cannot explain.

This phenomenon does not confine itself to the house. As Prune walks into her new classroom the following day she again finds her surroundings awash with colour and by standing open-mouthed with astonishment she opens herself up to the cruel barbs of a pack of bullies nicknamed the Vile-lets. These three girls are vicious in the way they target their victims and Prune is only saved from utter despair by the kindness of classmate Doug who was their previous main target. A temporary replacement teacher alongside the fact that Prune doesn’t want to worry her mother, means that she has to put up with the bullying for far too long before the combination of Doug and Jesse persuade her to do the right thing and tell an adult.

Prune’s relationship with older brother Jesse was one of my favourite aspects of this book because it was so realistically portrayed. They clearly had a very close bond, with Jesse demonstrating great kindness and care for his younger sister when they were alone together, whilst also dismissing her in front of Bryce when trying to present a cool image. In turn, Prune is buoyed up by Jesse’s attention and clearly worries that he is throwing away his life chances by hanging out with someone who is leading him into trouble.

Can Prune and Jesse resolve their differences; will Prune be able to shake off the bullies; and will she be able to help her brother escape from a toxic friendship? How will the legend of the “Delmere Magic” and Prune’s amazing artistic ability interact and can eleven year old girls become superheroes? You will have to read this middle grade contemporary fantasy to discover the answers.

The Wondrous Prune is a story of family love, finding your inner strength and focussing on the positive, which is ideally pitched for an upper key stage 2 readership. I’m sure that there will be many who would love to possess Prune’s superpower! The electronic proof that I read did not contain any artwork although I believe that the finished paperback will have illustrated chapter headings which I imagine will bring to life Prune’s artistic abilities.

Publication is due on 12th May 2022 and I am most grateful to Bloomsbury Children’s Books and NetGalley for access to an e-ARC.

Superheroes are as popular as they ever were, with many of the children in school being huge fans of Spiderman etc. More often than not, these characters are male and although the female icon Wonder Woman was reimagined not that long ago, she does not seem to generate anywhere near the same excitement as her male counterparts.

This strikes me as a very great shame – girls need exciting role models too and here, in this new title, they are supplied with an original new superhero whose powers might not be required to save planet Earth, but will certainly be put to good use in improving the lives of her family and friends.

That heroine is the uniquely named Prune, who has moved with her mother and brother Jesse into her beloved grandmother’s house following her death. The move is intended to give them all a fresh start – especially Jesse who has been bunking off school and getting into trouble while under the influence of his friend Bryce. Jesse is, of course, resentful about this and argues with his mother, upsetting Prune who becomes distracted by the sudden appearance of strange colours around her that her mother and Jesse cannot see. Dismissing this as a result of possibly needing to wear glasses, Prune thinks no more about it until it happens again – this time while thinking about her Grandma.

Nervous at starting at a brand new school, Prune does her best to settle in and enjoys an art activity the class completes, impressing her teacher with her ability but making an enemy of classmate Violet who then starts to bully her. Fortunately, she finds a friend in Doug who takes an interest in Prune’s sketchbook, admiring her artwork and they soon bond over a shared love of Guardians of the Galaxy and superheroes.

Following an unpleasant encounter with Violet and her cronies, an upset Prune seeks solace in her sketchbook and produces a drawing that bizarrely appears to become real. As she starts to realise that she may have superpowers of her own, Prune begins to see that she might be able to use them to stand up for herself. But Violet is not the only worry in her life when she discovers that Jesse is still in contact with Bryce, who seems intent on leading her brother further and further astray. Can Prune use her drawings not only to save herself, but also to save Jesse?

It’s so easy with superheroes to simply focus on their incredible powers and the situations in which they find themselves, which are usually those which threaten humankind as a whole. Here, Prune is first and foremost an eleven-year-old girl whose powers, while extraordinary, are used to deal with the very ordinary situations that many children will recognise from their daily lives. That’s not to say that bullying should be an ordinary thing, of course not, but we know that many children experience it and – sadly – adults are very often the last to find out. Here, it is clear that the victims of bullying should seek support from those around them – both friends and trusted adults – in order for it to be firmly and fully dealt with.

This is the start of a new series featuring children from the same neighbourhood with extraordinary powers and I am keenly awaiting the sequel. I assume that it will focus on a new protagonist and it will be interesting to see whether or not they get to know Prune to start to create their own group of superheroes, or if they will be unaware of one another. Time will tell. Until then, huge thanks must go to publisher Bloomsbury and to Net Galley for my virtual read ahead of publication on May 12th.

I really liked this book, it was well written with a good narrative, well developed charcaters that I loved and a great storyline with an intriguing premise. I really liked that this book can help children deal with and overcome bullying. There was nothing about this book that I disliked. it is a really good book.

Prune doesn’t want to move to Grandma and Grandpa’s house, away from her old school and her best friend. She doesn’t understand why she can see colours all around her - until she realises that what she draws in her sketchbook comes to life. She has a superpower! This is a really imaginative tale of coming to terms with your emotions, standing up to bullies and facing your fears. Prune doesn’t just take on her bullies, but also the bad crowd that her teenage brother has been hanging around with. I hope that this will be the first of many books, and I can’t wait to find out who else has a superpower.