Book Review: Mabel Jones and the Forbidden City by Will Mabbitt

26th January 2016 No Comments

mabel jonesMabel Jones has taken me by surprise. I’m 41 years old and now i’m her biggest fan. I thought I’d dip into this book to get a flavour of it, then ask the 8 year old to read it for me to get a flavour of whether the little reluctant reader enjoyed it. Instead I sat down and a couple of hours later I emerged having been on a laugh out loud journey with her. This book is bonkers, utterly and completely engaging, a journey into uncharted imagination and very inspiring. I loved it, the eight year old is currently loving it. How did I miss the first story?

For those of you who have been living without Mabel Jones until this point think of her as a sort of adventuring Alice in Wonderland crossed with Goth Girl, Ottoline and the best of Enid Blyton. This is not a story for the faint hearted, its a tail of poison, nose picking, paddle steamers, fantastical animals, a witch queen and much more all in the name of finding baby Maggie, Mabel’s little sister.

One of the things which I thought was wonderful was the use of figurative language. Its brilliant and mad and I used it in a practical sense to try to explain something to the children about using metaphors. This is a book which I can see myself returning to for examples for a long while yet.

The book is brilliantly illustrated and I think this would help the most reluctant reader as it breaks up the text and makes for a very appealing read.

In all honestly, I cant fault this book. I think its perfect for the 7+ age group, its a joyful, exciting, and slightly devilish read for this age group. On reading it I was transported back to my seven year old self and I felt once more the joy you can get from reading a book such as this. I’m off to the library today to get out the first Mabel Jones, I just need to decide which library card to put it on- mine or the children’s?

The Mabel Jones series is published by Puffin Books you can follow the author Will on Twitter @gomabbitt and find a whole dedicated website with more information at www.mabeljonesbooks.co.uk

Mabel Jones and the Forbidden City will be published in paperback by Puffin on 4th February 2016 priced ay £6:99

 

Claire Walsh

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