Review:

"Olaf and Essex" by Patti Calkosz is a captivating and poignant novel that explores the transformative power of friendship and love. This beautifully crafted story follows the journey of Olaf, a charming and eccentric artist, and Essex, a young woman navigating life's challenges.

Plot:

The narrative unfolds in 1980s New York City, where Olaf and Essex's lives intersect. As they form an unlikely bond, they confront their pasts, embrace their quirks, and discover the beauty of human connection.

Writing Style:

Calkosz's prose is characterized by:

1. Vibrant, descriptive language
2. Well-developed, relatable characters
3. Emotional depth and sensitivity
4. Witty dialogue and humor

Themes:

1. The power of friendship and community
2. Embracing individuality and creativity
3. Overcoming trauma and finding healing
4. Love, loss, and self-discovery

Strengths:

1. Unique, memorable characters
2. Evocative portrayal of 1980s NYC
3. Poignant exploration of human connection
4. Uplifting, hopeful tone

Weaknesses:

1. Pacing issues in some sections
2. Supporting character development could be enhanced

This is a beautiful, often thoughtful and very sad but also amusing book. Olaf is an innocent but massive bear living in Central Park with his best friend, Essex, a widowed fox who misses her kits, and Baby, a cantankerous and disgruntled cat who was thrown away by her child owners parents and is consistently seeking her believed Betty to reunite. By coincidence, Olaf saves a magically inclined baby from an evil witch and her bumbling husband, and brings her back to their cave, intending to raise her in honor of his own lost mother. Essex is honor bound to return the child to her true parents but is she willing to break Olaf’s heart to do it? And is he willing to lose her friendship to keep the baby? Who is right? Is there only one right, and in the end is close companionship stronger than a sense of morals, or is standing by your friend always the right thing? This book deals with man moral and complex emotional issues, including loss, grief, and responsibility. It also has lots of fun playful illustrations and comical antics by animals and witches trapped in a human word. It is often heart warming and tender with its deeply felt tenderness and kindness. I loved the witch sisters, Hilda and Helga. The baby, dubbed “ Football” by Essex and Olaf, is adorable, and even the villains had their amusing and charming moments. Great read, very fun and engrossing.

A bear and a fox must take care of and protect a baby from some NYPD’s Chief Magic Detector. One detail: the baby magic is the son of the anti-magic director.
Olaf and Essex is a story that immerses you in adventure, with deep and fun characters that take you through the story they have to tell. You instantly fall in love with Olaf and Essex seems captivating. In my opinion, both characters are like the two sides of the decision of What is the best way to protect the baby? The story has a youthful tone that makes it easy to read. but it is also accompanied by beautiful illustrations that make reading very enjoyable.

this was such a cute and touching read! the sense of adventure and wonder brought me back to the days of narnia and roald dahl.

suitable for younger readers but it was surprisingly enjoyable as an adult too!

big thank you @patticalkosz for the physical arc 🤎

p.s. your author’s note spoke to me and I appreciate you creating this novel from that

this was such a cute and touching read! the sense of adventure and wonder brought me back to the days of narnia and roald dahl.

suitable for younger readers but it was surprisingly enjoyable as an adult too!

big thank you @patticalkosz for the physical arc 🤎

p.s. your author’s note spoke to me and I appreciate you creating this novel from that

THis was a charming story about a bear and a fox rescuing a baby from her evil witch mother. It reminded me a little bit of The Lion King when Simba goes to live with Timone and Pumba. I loved the illustrations throughout the book and the stream-of-consciousness way of writing. Death in the book was handled tactfully and gracefully. Overall this would be a great adventure story for any kids who love animals and wonder what it would be like to be raised by them while also making friends along the way with some witches.

I did not enjoy the book. I'm not certain what the target audience could be. Some aspects of the book are for the young reader, other scenarios and characters are middle reader, and then some of the concepts, (the Police chief and his relationship with wife and adult daughter) are young adult reader level. The book was just all over the place and the story was just a jumble of scenes that didn't always seem necessary to the plot. I would not recommend this book to anyone,

I loved the unique idea of the book. While Olaf and Essex were adorable, the story seems to stretch on unnecessarily.

I liked this unique story, I love the connections between humans and animals. I have dropped one star because some of the grammar seemed off but the illustrations are beautiful and it is an ARC after all.

I just thought this book was wonderful. I always enjoy stories involving witches, and the animal best friends were so much fun. Recommending it to my middle school nephew.

This is a sweet tale of Olaf, a bear who lives in New York City’s Central Park, and his best friend Essex, a loyal and clever fox, how find a baby and must protect it from evil witches. There were elements of this story that I loved, like the relationships between the animals, and even the trees, and the uncanny way our giant protagonist was able to move around NYC unnoticed, and I expect that kids will enjoy the hijinks throughout. However, the last third of the book dragged on, with certain plot points repeating themselves a few too many times. And while I love Shakespeare, most kids, who are the target audience of this book, have not read Macbeth, and the constant references to “the Bard” and quotes from his works are likely to go completely over their heads, if not be downright confusing.

A sweet and endearing middle-grade story about love and longing, as seen from the POV of a sensitive bear, a motherly fox, and a competent but grumpy cat.

Set in an imagined post-crisis New York City, the story teems with witches, and magic-competents - some good, and some as evil and nasty as one can expect.

When Olaf (the bear), released into the streets and separated from his much-loved zoo keeper guardian, Wendy, is befriended by Essex, a tv-watching fox who desperately wants to learn how to read, the two chums do their best to survive, staying away from the increasingly-hard-to-understand humans, and keeping an eye out for the ever-present witches.

As Olaf and Essex, together with their no-nonsense friend Baby, a white cat, come upon a (human) baby in distress, and Mabel Blackthornudder, the self-proclaimed most powerful witch in New York, their lives will be changed forever.

A tale that will tweak the full gamut of emotions, this story is charmingly augmented with line drawings, and creatively plotted — a treat for lovers of fairy tales and fables, underlined with magic and a heart-warming message.

A great big thank you to #Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.

Olaf and Essex is a cute, magical debut. I can tell the author really wanted to create a world where children can dream of being rescued by wildlife as a baby and go against an evil witch.

While this is a cute story, I felt that the story beats were disjointed. Many times, I felt taken out of the book due to the flow of conversations, strange comedic timing, and confusion on character traits. Some chapters felt more polished than others and there was a strange sense of carefulness on the work. Almost as if the author was still holding back on little details that could help enhance the story.

That doesn't mean there were no good parts! For example, the more emotional moments involving Essex and her past were still written well and easy to digest for younger readers.

All this to say, the story and premise are great, but the execution was somewhat lacking in more than one area. I do hope to see how this author transforms in the next project!

What a delight this book is. I read it myself first but then was encouraged to read it again with the younger children ,who loved it. It will become a classic and will be finding space on our bookshelf.

Olaf and Essex is an adorable story with anthropomorphic animals, bungling witch kidnappers, and hilarious hijinks. My feedback is coming via the child I shared the story with, so here goes:

Loved the animal characters
The witch lady perhaps was a little too evil?
Story was a little on the long side, and they struggled to stay focused for some of additional PoVs

Otherwise, a genuinely enjoyable read!

Review will run on Goodreads starting 10/11 in perpetuity
and on Barnes and Noble starting on publication day

This story was fun filled and action packed. I loved the characters in here - not just Olaf and Essex but the rest of the crew in the story as well.

This is a cute, cozy Fall read filled with talking animals, magic, and witches. The theme of family is riddled throughout the story. My daughter absolutely loved me reading this story to her and looking forward to the next book in the series!

This book was delightful. It was full of great characters that were both good and evil and sometimes flawed. The illustrations added a lot to this book and the writing engaging and kept me turning pages. Highly recommend this for middle grade and those older who are looking for a lighter read that also has depth and good writing.

I went into this book without too many expectations and very little foreknowledge, only to be completely charmed and captured by the story and its characters. It's not too much to say that this is a modern classic in the making.

Olaf the bear and Essex the fox overcome the tragedy in their own lives to form a fast friendship, and subsequently (and unexpectedly!) find themselves rescuing a magical baby from a pair of miscreants. But figuring out what to do with the baby afterwards is an entirely different matter...

Featuring a pair of witch sisters, some evil humans who hate magic, a wizard who is turned into a frog, a wise trio of trees, a misanthropic cat and a whole host of other supporting characters with charm and/or ill-intent, this book really is a must-read. Barring one element near the end which I felt was unnecessary, I feel that any readers life will be enriched by this story, which gave me ALL the feels.

I read this book with my 6 year old son and he ABSOLUTELY loved it! The bear was his favorite. Every page he was excited to find out what mischief was coming next! The illustrations were stunning as well.

This is a story of a bear named Olaf and his friend, Essex, who is a fox. When Olaf comes across two witches in the park, his presence scares the witches enough that they leave without taking the baby with them, the baby they were attempting to kidnap in order to force the Chief Magic Detector to leave the magical community alone.

But this baby isn’t just any baby. It’s the son of the Chief Magic Detector.

Olaf really feels for this baby, he was just a cub when his mother died, and his tender heart tells him that they need to care for the baby until they can find the parents, so Olaf and Essex go in search of who they believe is the mother, only to see her turn her husband into a frog.

Olaf and Essex do their best to care for the baby, and to keep him healthy and well fed, while at the same time keeping this magical baby safe and sound, and attempting to find the baby’s real mother and return the baby to her, and keeping the baby away from her father.

There’s a lot of mischief going on in this story, which is all in the name of keeping the baby safe and sound, sprinkled with a dose of magical charm, as well.



Pub Date: 15 Oct 2024


Many thanks for the ARC provided by Pretty Cool ​​ / Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op