The Pawnshop of Stolen Dreams by Victoria Williamson & Illustrated by James Brown - #BookReview #blogtour

 

Deep in Witchetty Hollow, the fireflies were flickering in the twilight. The silence of the wood was broken only by the footsteps of a small girl who hurried home along the lonely path through the trees. Clutching her basket of freshly picked mushrooms, she broke into a run. As the last flames of sunset faded from the sky, the will-o-the-wisp came dancing across the moorland. Fog rolled in close behind, long fingers of mist clutching at the ghostly lights.

A sudden shriek shook the air. A black shape burst from the hole in a dead tree trunk and shot towards the rising moon...

***

In a strange little village called Witchetty Hollow, eleven-year-old Florizel is the first to run into the curious visitors who've come to open a brand new Daydream Delicatessen and sack-baby factory.

At first, it seems the daydream confection and cheap sack children are the best things that could have happened to the poor folk of the Hollow - after all, who has the money to rent their child from Storkhouse Services these days? But after a few weeks, Florizel starts to notice something odd happening to the adults of the town. First, they seem dreamy, then they lose all interest in their jobs and families. Soon they're trading all their worldly goods in the newly-opened Pawnshop for money to buy daydreams. With no money for rent payments, the children of Witchetty Hollow are being reclaimed by Storkhouse Services at an alarming rate. Florizel needs to act.

A magical tale of intrigue and adventure from award-winning children's author Victoria Williamson.

***

Generally speaking, I am not a fan of the fantasy genre. However, this book for children has encouraged me to explore the genre more widely as I really enjoyed it.

In fact, I would challenge anyone, child and adult alike, not to be rooting for the main character, Florizel and her adorable and funny little friend, Burble. Their characters were well portrayed and highly likeable, and contrasted well with the more sinister elements of the story. However, it was not in any way dark and I doubt there would be anything to give children who are reading this novel more than a healthy scare, which in my experience, children like in their literature.

What I loved most about it was its fairy tale quality, and like all good fairy tales it contained a sense of caution. However, it also made me smile, and it made me laugh, as there were elements of fun and humour within it's pages. I also enjoyed the way the author played around with language, making words just sufficiently different to standard recognized words, but unlike enough to create some wonderful new vocabulary in Florizel's world.

Also expected in a novel aimed at middle grade children, it's pace was rapid and it packed a lot into it's pages. I highly recommend this excellent novel for children.

Are there other novels along these lines out there? I am very keen to explore this genre further so please do send me your suggestions.

ISBN:  978 1913230500

Publisher:  Tiny Tree

Formats:  e-book, hardback and paperback

No. of Pages:  214 (paperback)

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About the Author:

Victoria Williamson is an award-winning author who grew up in Scotland surrounded by hills, books, and an historical farm estate which inspired many of her early adventure stories and spooky tales. After studying Physics at the University of Glasgow, she set out on her own real-life adventures, which included teaching maths and science in Cameroon, training teachers in Malawi, teaching English in China and working with children with additional support needs in the UK. Victoria currently works part time writing KS2 books for the education company Twinkl and spends the rest of her time writing novels, and visiting schools, libraries and literary festivals to give author talks and run creative writing workshops.

Victoria’s previous novels include The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle, The Boy with the Butterfly Mind, Hag Storm, and War of the Wind. She has won the Bolton Children’s Fiction Award 2020/2021, The YA-aldi Glasgow Secondary School Libraries Book Award 2023, and has been shortlisted for the Week Junior Book Awards 2023, The Leeds Book Awards 2023, the Red Book Award 2023, the James Reckitt Hull Book Awards 2021, The Trinity School Book Awards 2021, and longlisted for the ABA South Coast Book Awards 2023, the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2020, and the Branford Boase Award 2019.

Her latest novel, The Pawnshop of Stolen Dreams, is a middle grade fantasy inspired by classic folklore. Twenty percent of the author royalties for this book are donated to CharChar Literacy, an organisation working to improve children’s literacy levels in Malawi.

You can find out more about Victoria’s books, school visits and free resources for schools on her website: Strangely Magical

Purchase Link *

(ARC, photos and author bio info. courtesy of The Write Reads)

*Disclosure: I only recommend books I would buy myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post contains an affiliate link from which I may earn a small commission.