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Children's Book Review: Flitterwig, by Edrei Cullen
Reviewed by Claire Saxby
Ella discovers that being different can be a good thing.
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Had the Troggle at the corner been watching, instead of trying to flick bubblegum off the end of his middle finger, he would have seen the pixie. It scrambled up from the gutter, scuttled along the ice-cold railings near the front door, and launched itself onto the windowsill of Number 26, Chester Row, Chelsea, London.
Only yesterday the Troggle had been a pixie himself. Now, because of all the sugar he’d eaten, he had Trogglified into a greasy-haired, moulding slime-ball of a creature, smelling of rotten turnips and rat poo. He cursed under his breath, and hopped about on one foot. Having successfully flicked the bugglegum off his finger, it seemed he had stepped on it, and was now having trouble unstacking it from the bottom of what looked like a hobnailed boot.
Abandoning the Magical Kingdom of Magus to join forces with the Grand Duke did not come without its drawbacks.
Ella has a lonely life. She has a horrid governess who gives every appearance of detesting her. Her mother and two brothers are dead, and her father refuses be in the same house as her. She is not allowed to go to school, her lessons being grudgingly provided by the governess, Mrs Dribbleton-Faucet. It seems Ella is being shielded from the rest of the world. So it’s quite a surprise to her to meet Dixon, a pixie emissary from the magical land of Magus. He appears when she dons her new glasses, and disappears when she takes them off. Ella is convinced that she has finally gone mad. But gradually she realises that all the elements of her difference make her special. So special in fact that only she – a human with magical blood – can save the kingdom of Magus.
Flitterwig is an exciting, warm and funny magical adventure. Ella has been isolated from the world for the world’s sake as much as for her own. Her father is consumed by guilt, her governess driven by a ungracious sense of duty, even her grandparents won’t touch her. The arrival of pixies and Troggles and all manner of magic is at the very least confusing. But Ella, called to her quest, responds bravely and imaginatively. Despite the inconsistent assistance of her emotionally-wobbly guide Dixon, she finds her way in a world that has been less than welcoming to her. There are a whole host of villains to overcome and many a riddle to decipher. Ella is a modest and engaging heroine, and her quest to save a magical kingdom helps her to find her place in her own world. Recommended for mid-primary readers.
Flitterwig, Edrei Cullen
Scholastic Press 2008 | |
| | Sponsored by:
The Floatingest Frog, by Sally Murphy, illustrated by Simon Bosch
Available now from Fishpond.
The Big Blowie, by Sally Murphy
Available online from Blake Education.
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