I know many of us within the children’s book blogging community are heavily influenced by what our fellow readers are enjoying and recommending and after having this new title recommended to me twice within a few hours on Twitter knew it was a book I just had to read myself.
A gorgeous story, perfect for lower KS2, with a strong message of the importance of caring for both one another and the wider world, this is the first title in a brand new series which is certain to be as popular with its intended audience as it has been amongst those adults like myself lucky enough to have had an early read.
For young Rowan, up until now life has been carefree and fun and when we meet her she is racing against best friend Bella to see which of them is the fastest and most agile child in the city of Holderby. Confident of winning, as she approaches the finish line at the city’s lookout tower, Rowan is surprised to find two adults there discussing a a far-off war – something of no interest to her. Waiting for her friend to catch up, Rowan is further taken aback to discover that one of the adults is her people’s queen and that the war appears to be much closer to home than she thought.
Returning home, Rowan asks her father what is happening only to be told that the fighting might reach them soon and that she and her mother must go to stay with the grandfather she didn’t know she had. Packing immediately, a tearful Rowan soon finds herself on her way to safety and before long arrives at her grandfather Inigo’s home, meeting his pet wolf Arto who takes a shine to her. The following day, an assortment of people arrive with animals in need of Inigo’s care and attention and Rowan goes outside to investigate her new surroundings, wandering into the Dark Forest. Here, she comes across a baby dragon which has been wounded but before she can do anything to help it she becomes aware of a gang of hunters who have caught the dragon’s mother in their net.
Taking the dragon back to Inigo’s to get it the help it so clearly needs, she meets Will and Cam who help wildsmith Inigo in his work. When Inigo sends word to the witches that the poachers are back and are intent on tracking and taking the magical animals of the forest, Rowan vows to help and finds herself at the centre of an adventure she could never have imagined. Can she, Inigo and her new friends stop the poachers in their tracks and can she reunite mother and baby dragon?
This is such a gorgeous read. Although Rowan is very much a city girl at the start of the story, she has a deep connection with animals and soon starts to feel very much at home at her grandfather’s house when she is given the opportunity to help him in his work. Initially, Will is not very friendly towards her as he is worried she is going to usurp his position helping the wildsmith and she is confused by his behaviour but once Will realises that she has the best interests of the dragon and all of the other animals at heart, he thaws out towards her and together with Cam they make a great little gang.
I know that my Year 3 class would adore this – both as a class reader and as an independent text for those who are more confident and reading short chapter books. With its short chapters and the brilliant illustrations of Joe Todd Stanton, this is a story with universal appeal. The war that is simmering in the background is not overly threatening and is unlikely to worry even the most anxious of youngsters but will prove an ideal opening for any PSHE work in class around the topic of conflict that is appropriate in the current climate.
I am now eagerly awaiting Book 2 – City of Secrets, due April 6th – and I know I will not be alone in this. My enormous thanks before then go to UCLan Publishing and Net Galley for my advance virtual read of Into the Dark Forest which publishes 2nd February.
Mrs Sydney's Famous World's Smallest Library 