Taggie and Jemima see a white squirrel in glasses which starts a fantasy adventure which sees them travelling across realms, across time and into deep labyrinths in a pursuit to save their father who has been kidnapped. But why kidnap him and why now?
When a story starts so early with a squirrel in glasses you know it is going to be a fantasy and a light hearted one at that. With shades of Alice in Wonderland, Narnia, Dr Who and even a bit of Harry Potter there wouldn't appear to be anything new in this but these elements have been brought together in an original story that is fast paced, not too tense - but tense enough - and has original heroines that will charm it's target readership (9+).
While I found some aspects of the story too young for my taste (I am quite a bit outside it's target audience) I did enjoy it and appreciated the approach to violence adopted by the heroines. All too often bad guys are just left on the battlefield but here the heroines make a valid point of minimising violence so as not to become like the bad guys - a point that I appreciated.
A truly delightful story that anyone can leave their children reading - so long as it's not close to bedtime or you'll never get them to bed! And it's book one of a series with the next one out in August.
Publisher - Random House Children's
Genre - Children's 9+ fantasy
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