BOOK BLOG: Anna James

Tilly and the Bookwanderers: magical, wonderful, incredible.

(This is the proof cover, a massive thank you to Harper Collins Children for sending me a copy… I feel like a very lucky book blogger!)

“Since her mother’s disappearance, eleven-year-old Tilly has found comfort in stories at Pages & Co., her grandparents’ bookshop. But when her favourite characters, Anne of Green Gables and Alice from Wonderland, appear in the shop, Tilly’s adventures become very real. Not only can she follow Anne and Alice into their thrilling worlds, she discovers she can bookwander into any story she chooses. Tilly’s new ability could even help her solve the mystery of what happened to her mother all those years ago. But danger may be lurking on the very next page.”

Tilly and the Bookwanderer tells the story of Matilda Pages, a young girl who discovers she has a magical ability to see characters from her favourite books and wander into their books with them. Matilda’s mam isn’t around, but she is very lucky to be surrounded by an awful lot of love from her grandparents (who own an incredible bookshop, Pages and Co.) As the book progresses, Tilly goes from being quite a lonely character to one surrounded by magic and friendship, through the help of someone from her school, Oskar. There’s secrets, lies, a pretty scary bad guy, discoveries, magic, the Underlibrary and a Librarian (you know it’s series when there’s capital letters involved!) to explore.

There is SO MUCH I love about this book that I could be here forever. The characters, the setting (I want to visit Pages and Co. because I would spend so much money and I’d just sit and read because it sounds like the ideal reading date location), the magic, the baddies, the plot, the writing style, the cover, the wonder it creates, the love of books, the importance of books. I could go on.

Seeing the world, the real world and the bookish world, though Tilly and Oskar’s eyes was absolutely gorgeous – there’s nothing quite like seeing the wonder of books through a child’s eyes. There are so many moments of utter delight in books and stories that you can get lost in the story without quite realising.

This book is a gorgeous tale about the magic and wonder of books and imagination. It’s a book that will make you remember why you love your favourite books, and will make you want to reread them (or read The Little Princess, because I never have and that book plays quite an important role in the book). There’s some lovely paragraphs all about the importance of reading, libraries, bookshops, the magic of books that I wanted to just take a picture of them all and frame them. Anna’s writing encapsulates the importance of all of the bookish love so beautifully. I’m very excited for book 2 and 3. I didn’t expect to love this book as much as I did, but it’s just lush.

Reading this book turned me into a bit of a kid again. The idea of being able to jump into books and seeing my favourite fictional characters in real life is just magical. I have no idea which book I’d like to jump into, or who I’d like to meet in real life. Just imagine that! Seeing your favourite fictional character just chilling in the bookshop you frequent… I don’t quite know that I’d know what to do.

I think this book will have a very special place in many classrooms. My kids are going to love this a lot. It’s such an incredible story about the magic and wonder of stories. It’s going to make readers fall more in love with reading. Anna James is an absolute wonder.

There’s so much more I’m yet to talk about. I can’t wait to be able to talk to everyone about this book and recommend it to all of my kids!

My goodreads review reads:

An absolutely incredible adventure told through the life of Matilda Pages – a bookwanderer, book store inhabitant and all around brilliant young girl. I loved this story. There are baddies to be terrified of, good guys to root for, unexpected friends, lots of mentions of other books and so much more. This book is what’s so brilliant about all books – adventure, magic, getting lost, being found, friendships and discoveries. I can not wait for more from this series.

Have you read Tilly and the Bookwanderers?
Which book would you like to wander into?
How would you react if your favourite character appeared in front of you?

A massive thank you to Jo at Harper Collins Children for sending me a copy of this book. I’m still in awe. I have pre-ordered the hardback and eagerly await its arrival on my doorstep!