2017
This is a slightly puzzling book. It seems to be a book for
the fluent reader at the end of junior school. Yet it contains elements for
other age groups.
It certainly has a nice fat spine and uses blocked text which
suggests the fluent reader. It also uses
a serif font and includes difficult a and g which again is normal for this reader.
It makes a concession to the new reader by containing a double-spaced
text.
As in picture books for the pre-school child, the pictures
add to the story, although they are in black and white and are more
sophisticated than they would be for the younger child. Pictures are clearly important
in this book; it was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway prize in 2018. The text
also included quite a few decorative elements. Some of the pictures, however, are
very dark , e.g. the double spreads on
pages 116-17 and 162-3, and this brings it back up into the older age group.
There are elements also that suggest a teen reader. The protagonist
reasons logically – is she in Piaget’s formal operations stage? She behaves like
a teenager. She is reluctant to tell her father about her day at school. Bullying
is a teen theme.
The children are left home alone so there is plenty of opportunity
for them to have their adventure on their own.
It includes high fantasy elements – including a troll mother
and a talking cat. Shades of Alice?
Bordering
on horror? We are also treated to the mystery woman – the agent of
Extra-Existent affairs.
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