Louie Stowell (Author), Davide Ortu (Illustrator) - The Dragon In The Library - Book Review - Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books

Coming out in June 2019 is the first book in a brand new series by Louie Stowell. The Dragon in The Library, which will be published by Nosy Crow, will soon hit the bookshops and libraries near you. The book will have amazing Neon artwork which you will be able to see from Mars. Whilst the book cover image has been fabulously illustrated by the very talented and rising star Davide Ortu. His collaboration makes this book a little extra special. Below is one of the inside illustrations to show you just how wonderful and engaging his artwork and the story together really are. 

The book is aimed at the younger reader (approx. age 6 and upwards) so it makes it a perfect family or classroom read. The fantastic theme running throughout the story is about the power of reading. It looks at saving our public libraries regardless of the individual and worldwide situations we face. The best gift that we can give our children is to freely access books. In doing so, we can feed their imagination and help them to understand the world around them. This book does that in a number of exciting ways.  

It's the first day of the summer holiday and the start of the hunt for Danny Fandango. Kit can't STAND reading, but when she's dragged along to the library by her two best friends, Josh and Alita, she makes an incredible discovery. Books are MAGIC and dragons are REAL. Stories can make dreams even bigger. She comes to realise that you won't and can't die of boredom in a Library. Unfortunately, it needs to be saved first.

This is a fantastic story about friendship and saving the local library from being torn down. The book features a lovely cast of characters who represent a diverse range of cultures. Their opposing personalities make the storyline very playful and engaging. It's definitely a story full of imagination. Such as jumping in and out of stories, literally, just like Marry Poppins. 

This story is a thrilling slice of fantasy, action, and fun. It has a fast-moving plot full of spells, wizards, dragons, monsters, and a very bad villain. All of this created a magically immersive outing but with a great message to be told. This is a great start to a series which should not be missed. 

Without libraries, the WORLD will END. 

Mr Ripley's Book Review: Django Wexler - The Forbidden Library

Django Wexler is a new name in the fantasy realm. His first book, The Thousand Names, was written for older/adult readers and was published by Del Ray in the UK. The follow-up to this book should be published this year, at some point in July. However, this is Django's first foray into the children's market which will be published simultaneously in the UK and the US early April 2014.  The cover above is the UK version, whilst the one below is the US book cover. It's great to see the difference between them - what are your thoughts about these?

My review of this book is taken from the advanced reading copy, which was kindly sent to me by the publisher Doubleday. This version does not have the black and white illustrations that have been drawn by David Wyatt and can be found in the UK copy. I'm not sure if the US edition will have the same illustrations in the final version. However, I have been lucky to see a couple of these already, courtesy of the illustrator, so I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on a beautiful finished copy once it has finally been published in April.

This is the type of book that I love to receive - a classic fantasy adventure that is full of magical family moments. The more that you read, the more you become gripped by the brilliant imagination. It's like all your favourite books wrapped into one - a world that houses talking mischievous cats, well dreamt beasts (with warts and all) as well as a fantastic array of characters. Some of these are mysterious whilst others are sweet and nice - just like Alice, the main character, who we follow through the main story.

The vast library is captivating. It is filled with magical secrets, dark shadows and many strange books. I loved the idea of the characters jumping into magical books. With a life of their own, they are reminiscent of the characters in Cornelia Funke's Inkheart books. I hope that I haven't shared a little spoiler here, SORRY. The characters, Mr Geryon and Mr Black, are typical good-old mysterious and nasty adults that will suck you into the story and show a dark-side that may leave you feeling slightly unsettled.

This is a book that everyone will love, in my opinion. It is a great balance of action and fantasy magic which will put a spell on you. Alice is left to battle the world after her father goes down in a shipwreck and she is sent to live with a distant relative who she knows nothing about. Will the quest to find a happy ending be achieved?

At a couple of points, this story didn't quite gel together and felt slightly disjointed in parts. Nevertheless, this is a great debut book as part of a fantastic new series that could hold epic status. Captivating, thoroughly enjoyable and a very entertaining read, I would definitely recommend this book as a read for everyone. The splendid illustrations add to the great storyline and create a fantasy gem. 

Book published by Doubleday UK - 10 April 2014 

Check out this post by David Wyatt: http://davidwyattillustration.wordpress.com/2014/03/03/smatterings/