The covers of middle grade fiction are really getting fancy. This one comes with little shiny foil bits!
When K was transiting from large picture books to chapter books, we didn’t come across many with such interesting illustrations. Look at this!
The kids would love this, and I myself pored over ‘hotel map’ at length, enjoying all the little details.
What I really enjoyed about the book was its writing.
Steven Butler effortlessly spins out a world of fantastic creatures like the werepoodle (werewolf variant) and weaves in enjoyable erstwhile non-existent words (dooksome and delunktious) to describe the highjinks that goes on in this invisible hotel.
The magic unfolds fast and furious from page 1 and the reader is tossed through scene after scene of wildly imaginative incidents. Even I was swept up in the plot and fascinated by highly inventive aspects, like how the sea door, sky door and land door transforms to open up secret entrances to this hotel.
The protagonist is a very likeable rotund little boy with some troll blood in his lineage, and the story traces all the adventures in the hotel from his viewpoint, which makes the book all the more relatable to children.
I did wonder when all the bad behaviour by the goblin Prince Grogbah (which started midway in the book) was going to end, since it seemed to go on interminably. In the end, I guess it was wrapped up satisfactorily, albeit a bit belatedly.
Overall, I’d say it’s a great read for kids who are transitting into chapter books, especially given its large dose of action and humour.
This book is available at all good bookstores.
GIVEAWAY TIME!
Book distributors Pansing are generously sponsoring a giveaway of one book each, to two loyal readers of this blog!
To enter, simply complete the following:
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The usual terms and conditions apply.
[The winners are Mag Yeow and Christina Wong!]
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