Chris Callaghan - The Great Chocoplot - Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books Book Review

Jelly and her family live in Chompton-on-de-Lyte, where everyone loves a Chocablocka bar or two. So when the end of chocolate is announced, she can't believe it. Determined to investigate, Jelly and her gran follow a trail of clues to a posh chocolate shop and its owner, the pompous Garibaldi Chocolati. Gari's suspiciously smug, despite his failing business and yucky chocolate. Is it really the chocopocalypse, or is there a chocoplot afoot?

The Great Chocoplot is a fantastic debut book that will hit bookshops across the chocolate landscape early March 2016. The book was written for the author's 8 year old daughter as a Christmas present, and what an amazing present to give her. The adventure was then entered into Chicken House's open coop, which is a one-day amnesty for unpublished writers and was immediately chomped up for publication.

This is a fantastic Easter treat for all the family to get their hands on. With the teasing shiny Dairy Milk-like cover (other brands are available) produced by the amazing Steve Wells, it will certainly get your literary tastebuds going and enhance your low calorie diet. You will also find some fantastic illustrations by the talented Lalalimola, so check out more of her great work here: http://www.lalalimola.com 

The plot is like dipping your hands into a tub of Quality Street, as you never know what is going to happen from page to page. It is a brilliantly fast paced and funny rampage of chocolate madness. Just think about a world without chocolate, can you imagine that?  If it all was to disappear - NO MORE CHOCOLATE - what would you do .....? Would you grab a bag of cheese and onion crisps instead?

The story is so infectious that everybody and everyone will fall in love with this book, regardless of their age. It's very quirky and so immersive that it will make you smile and laugh out loud. Jelly is a plucky heroine - she's very well written and can be related to. Jelly and her crazy grandmother, who lives in a caravan on the families front driveway, take on an evil villain. Can they foil a devilish plan filled with a cataclysmic cocoa catastrophe? You'll have to buy a copy and read it, as I'm certainly not going to tell you. 

You will fly through this plot like a trolley dash in a sweet shop. It is an amazingly imaginative story, which is told with the heart and emotions of daily life struggles whilst still instilling a large slice of realism  You will hurtle head first into a chocolate fountain of mayhem and ride the non stop nightmare.  

This is another cracking book from Chicken House - the home of good stories told with creative ability. It is my recommended enchanted read this Easter... so go and grab yourself a copy.

Mr Ripley's Interview with Sophie Plowden Author of Jack Dash and the Magic Feather

Today I'm very pleased to be interviewing Sophie Plowden who is the author of "Jack Dash and the Magic Feather". I'd like to thank her for agreeing to do this brilliant interview and for taking the time to answer a few questions for Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books. It's a great insight into the story and certainly makes me want to read it.....

Tell us a little bit about Jack Dash and the Magic Feather? 
It’s about a boy who finds a feather quill pen in his bedroom in the attic of his new house. He makes a magical discovery: whatever he draws with his feather comes to life, but the only problem is, he’s not very good at drawing. By mid-morning, he’s created chaos.


Give us an insight into the main character. What does he/she do that is so special? 
Jack is a loner, a fantasist and a hypochondriac, who can always be relied upon to make the wrong decision in a crisis. His speech is peppered with big words and he has no idea what they mean. I’m currently finishing the sequel, so it’s been pretty tiring living with Jack inside my head for the past couple of years, but I’m very fond of him.


How important are names to you in your books? Do you choose the names based on liking the way it sounds or the meaning? Do you have any name choosing resources you recommend? 
I start with the names and the story follows. I have a collection of names, in fact, chosen entirely because of the way they sound. When I find a particularly good one, from the news, on a road sign or off the internet, I file it away in my brain. The original Jack Dash was a British communist and a trade union leader, who championed the rights of London dockers in the 1950s. The town where my story’s set is called Curtly Ambrose, after a West Indian fast bowler. I don’t know anything about cricket, but he was one of the greats, apparently.


Just as your books inspire authors, what authors have inspired you to write? 
I remember discovering a battered copy of Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable in my parents’ bookshelf when I was about nine. I had no idea what it was, but I suspected my parents of practising some sort of literary witchcraft, so I slid it off the shelf and under my duvet for a spot of illicit bedtime reading. It seemed to me to be the most extraordinary book on earth: phrases and fantasies, myths and hearsay, all carefully categorised!

P. G. Wodehouse also provided me with a master class in farce: his sparkling characters survive twists of plot as absurd and elegant as a Pythagorean equation – and all delivered with a straight face. It makes my jaw sag.

What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books? 
I trained as a painter and I’ve realised that painting and writing are remarkably similar. Both a painter’s style and an author’s voice run deep through the psyche. It makes the process painful at times: you have to learn your craft, but you also have to recognise your strengths and embrace them.


What does your writing process look like? 
Ahem. It looks like this. (Well you did ask.)

What’s the earliest memory you have of writing a story? 
I clearly remember writing long and complicated stories throughout primary school, complete with illustrations and devoid of merit.


Where do you get your information or ideas for your books? 
I start by creating the characters and then I deposit them in a situation that will drive the narrative. It’s often a chance remark that sparks my imagination, so I always carry a notebook in order to jot it down. (Last week, I overheard a man on the number 91 bus saying: ‘they’re no good to me now – not as feet anyway’ and I spent the rest of the journey tentatively peering under his seat.) When I’m back home, I drink coffee and pace the room, trying to build my character’s backstory. I ask a lot of personal questions: What do they keep in their fridge? How often do they change their socks? Who would they vote for in a general election? And most importantly: What are they most afraid of? When I’ve answered that one, I rub my hands together, flip my computer open and let them have it.

If you could own one item, that you don't already own now, what would it be?
Easy. A magic feather, of course.

Sophie Plowden is the author of Jack Dash and the Magic Feather (September 2015, Catnip 
Publishing and illustrated by Judy Brown.) Jack Dash and the Summer Blizzard follows in 2016.

Twitter: @sophieplowden 

Caleb Krisp by Anyone But Ivy Pocket - Book Review (Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books)

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Book Synopsis: Ivy Pocket is a twelve-year-old maid of no importance, with a very lofty opinion of herself. Dumped in Paris by the Countess Carbunkle, who would rather run away to South America than continue in Ivy's companionship, our young heroine (of sorts) finds herself with no money and no home to go to ... until she is summoned to the bedside of the dying Duchess of Trinity.

For the princely sum of £500 (enough to buy a carriage, and possibly a monkey), Ivy agrees to courier the Duchess's most precious possession - the Clock Diamond - to England, and to put it around the neck of the revolting Matilda Butterfield on her twelfth birthday. It's not long before Ivy finds herself at the heart of a conspiracy involving mischief, mayhem and murder.

Who can you rely on to deliver a priceless diamond to a revolting aristocrat?

Book Review: You'll never feel the same again once you've read this book. Following the unfortunate events of Ivy Pocket will surely leave you feeling unhinged in a rather odd way. Miss Exaggeration is a feisty twelve-year-old full of grand delusions on a massive scale. I still can't help thinking about her days and days after I've finished reading the book. She is certainly a one of a kind character; her exuberant personality is very infectious. I think that all of these attributes may make her one of my favourite new characters of the moment. 

The story is pure mayhem containing a rip cord of crazy events that will skip by you in a blur of pure imagination and great storytelling. This book is full of mild violence which is timely interspaced with some bizarre action moments.You will find yourself laughing one minute at the absurd things Ivy Pocket says and does. The next thing you will be cringing at her brutal honesty and bitter words. However, this creates brilliant reading and is really engaging.

It's very whimsical - full of irony and wicked intentions. I loved the gothic feel that came through which is very reminiscent to Lemony Snicket. Fans of these books will surely love reading this one as well. 

This is a very quirky read and will surely be a future bestseller. It's already been scooped up by many publishers up and down the country. I loved every page of this book. It is a journey full of self discovery both for the characters and readers alike. 

In my opinion, this is a book that any reluctant reader will sink their teeth into and enjoy. The finished copy includes a superb collection of illustrated images by the talented illustrator John Kelly, which adds to this book to create an overall great reading experience. 

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  UK Hardcover: 320 pages - Publisher: Bloomsbury Childrens (9 April 2015)
• ISBN-10: 1408858630 Age: 8-12 yrs