Tag Magda Brol

Ivy Newt and the Vampixies / Dream Weavers: Chaos of the Fun Fiend

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Ivy Newt and the Vampixies
Derek Keilty, illustrated by Magda Brol
lScallywag Press

At the start of the story Ivy and Tom, (Ivy’s best friend and familiar) set out with Griselda the Sand Witch on an expedition to find the spell ingredients from her very long list. Their first stop is the Isle of Hob with its extinct volcano Mount Krakatoenail; there they hope to find sneezewort. This they do, but they almost lose Tom when he falls into a quarry-like area in the side of the volcano. Close by, they discover cart tracks running into tunnels that they deduce are part of a dust mine from where Dust Pixies mine the ore which is crushed to make a dust that is on Griselda’s list of required spell ingredients. However as they collect the dust they overhear something alarming that causes them to hide and from their hiding place they hear an announcement from Queen Drusilla, the leader of the Dust Pixies. Said Queen then proceeds to turn the Dust Pixies into Vampixies that will then go and sprinkle this dust everywhere in Miracula thus robbing the witches and wizards of their magical powers.

Griselda and Ivy realise that something needs to be done urgently to prevent this disaster; but what can they do to stop the malevolent plot and thereby save both Miracula and magic itself? The next thing they know, they’re hurtling into the sea not far from the Fishy Wizards’ ship. Perhaps the captain of this ship can help them …

With a plot that moves fast, gentle humour, a satisfying finale and lively black and white illustrations, this fourth adventure for Ivy and Tom will captivate newly confident readers and also works well as a KS1 read aloud.

Dream Weavers: Chaos of the Fun Fiend
Annabelle Sami, illustrated by Forrest Burdett
Little Tiger

Tito is eagerly anticipating the holiday with his grandparents especially as his best friend Neena is joining him, his parents and little brother for the week.at the seaside. However even before they arrive at his grandparents’ home Tito feels that something isn’t right. Then the reception they all receive from Nan and Grandad is decidedly unwelcoming. All Grandad is interested in is listening to the clock ticking. It’s very strange indeed that his grandparents’ behaviour is uncharacteristic of their usual fun-loving selves. Tito decides that to get to the root of the trouble he and Neena should dreamweave into Grandad’s dream that night.

Despite feeling somewhat guilty that it’s an invasion of his privacy, he and Neena create a portal through which they enter and it soon becomes evident that they’ve found Grandad as a boy. Then suddenly there appears a tall pale figure that immediately begins to sap child Grandad’s energy. It’s a vampire.; not one that sucks blood, rather this one sucks fun.

In the morning Grandad and Tito talk and iGrandad realises his grandson is a Dreamweaver. He, Tito and Neena set out walking and Grandad tells them that he is a Spiritlink and they in turn tell him about the vampire. As they walk Neena suggests the Bhoot (her uncle) has done something to speed up his plan of merging the human world and the spirit world. Things get progressively weirder but it’s evident that it’s up to the children to find out exactly what is going on. There’s a confrontation with the Bhoot: he’s obviously up to evil tricks and more are to follow.

The story ends on a cliff hanger with Neena and Tito agreeing that they must travel to the spirit world.
A thoroughly gripping tale, the third in the sequence: you really need to read the first two before this one though.

Wowzers!

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Wowzers!
Lou Carter and Magda Brol
Bloomsbury Children’s Books

Rabbit has been saving up to buy a new car. When he finally has the money, off he goes to the garage and there purchases a snazzy blue sports car. Away he zooms to show it to his pals, the first being Bear. But within minutes our lapine character is suffering from digger jealousy, fire-engine envy,

sailing boat begrudgement and more. Each time he sets eyes on a means of transport he considers superior to his own, back home he goes and adds something extra before setting out again to show off his ‘perfect’ car . Seemingly though he’s thwarted at every turn of the steering wheel.

Eventually considering himself the proud owner of the BEST vehicle around, Rabbit zips through the countryside

eventually reaching a bridge where his friends call to him to stop and assist with a rescue. What will Rabbit do, whizz past completely ignoring the pleas of his pals or will friendship prevail?

Young children will love joining in with the ‘WOWZERS’ and ‘VROOMs of Lou Carter’s rhyming narrative as they follow the zany modifications Rabbit makes in his endeavours to impress, which Magda Brol depicts in her zany scenes. With important messages about learning to be content with what you have and friendship being way more important and satisfying than belongings, this is a story to share and talk about with foundation stage/KS1 children.

Adventuring with Ivy Newt

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Ivy Newt and the Storm Witch
Ivy Newt and the Time Thief
Derek Keilty, illustrated by Magda Brol
Scallywag Press

These enchanting stories are set in the world of Miracula and in the Storm Witch, the first, Ivy Newt, daughter of the King and Queen of the Sand Witches is celebrating her birthday. However, due to inclement weather her friends are unable to come to her party and share the culinary treats such as scream cheese, lemon and slime cake with marsh maggots. No matter, her parents have prepared an extra special surprise for Ivy – a disappearing act; the trouble is that they really do vanish for good: a mistake or a sinister happening? It’s up to Ivy and her familiar, a shape-shifting wolf/boy Tom to discover what is behind this harrowing situation and bring back her parents. This means Ivy must fly way outside her comfort zone, but she and Tom are a great team and with the help of Felix, son of the Carpet Wizard King, determination and magic, they might just defeat the evil Queen Clawdelia.

New solo readers will delight in this charmer of a tale with its mix of frights and gentle humour, and Magda Brol’s fantastic black and white illustrations at every turn of the page; if you read this aloud to children make sure they see those.

The Time Thief takes place at Halloween when every year come sunrise, a spooky haunted house, appears near Newt Castle, only to disappear again at the stroke of midnight. Queen Fenella tells her daughter, the place is cursed and she’s to stay away and instead help with the preparations for the party in the castle.
However, Ivy’s disobedient streak wins out and off she goes with Tom to investigate and they hope, solve the disappearing house mystery. When they tumble in, the two discover an imprisoned witch in a sorry state, thanks to her own doing and that of sorcerer Thaddeus Creep from whom she stole a clock, a clock that is broken and needs to be fixed urgently, which means before the last stroke of midnight. With occasional tummy churning moments and some wonderful new characters all ends satisfactorily, and will leave readers eagerly anticipating further adventures.
Her latest being

Ivy Newt and the Swamp Dragons

Ivy has some unlikely adversaries in this story, they’re not the titular Swamp Dragons; rather a thoroughly nasty bullying character, Trouble Ivy who appears as the result of Ivy tipping a whole bottle of her Gran’s Double Trouble Bubble Bath into the tub before she takes a dip. Little does she know however that it’s so old the magic ingredients are well out of date and hence both she and Tom now have doubles – exceedingly troublesome ones as she’s soon to discover.

The purpose of Ivy’s stay at Gran’s is so she can see for the first time, the Swamp Dragons Gran is so excited about when they stop for a few days to rest on their way to their winter home in the Dragon Isles. Now with Trouble Ivy and some allies causing chaos, Ivy will have to use all her ingenuity and summon up her bravery to defeat her enemies, save The Book Wizard’s Library and prevent the kingdom of Miracula being incinerated. Can she do it? Possibly, with assistance from friends, be they established or new ones.

Readers will be rooting for eight year old Ivy as they’re whooshed along to the end, eager to discover how things turn out. It matters not whether they have met Ivy before or are new to this series thanks in no small part, to Magda Bro’s map of Miracula and potrait gallery of the characters. They are a great counterpart for Derek Keilty’s text with its satisfying mix of magic, mischief, drama and gentle humour.

The Great Hamster Getaway

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The Great Hamster Getaway
Lou Carter and Magda Brol
Bloomsbury Children’s Books

Bored by his life confined in a cage all the time seeing nobody and going nowhere, hamster Raffleton Grey decides to break free. He dreams of life in the great outdoors, splashing in the sea and feasting on people’s leftovers. “Tomorrow’s the day” he tells himself as he stargazes one night, a plan forming in his mind.

Next day having free fallen a fair way he lands beside a fellow hamster, all be it a rather scruffy specimen.

But freedom is much better shared with a like-minded friend so Raffleton and Puckerford spend time together running, splashing, snoozing beside the harbour, gobbling goodies and generally having a fantastic fun time. However as night falls things look rather different; pairs of eyes belonging to cats, foxes, gulls and worst of all, rats, follow their every movement however fast they try to run.

Come morning the two friends are exhausted and ponder upon their future; then Raffleton speaks up and another plan is conceived and carried out. After all, a comfy cage with company seems like the ideal solution and so it proves to be, at least when we leave the two.

Lou’s rhyming narrative bounces along beautifully when read aloud and is complemented by Magda Brol’s imaginative illustrations of Raffleton’s daring escape plan and what follows when he meets Puckerford. Her lively scenes really do capture the delights of being beside the seaside. Hamster holiday or human one, this tale is a perfect start to the summer break.

Esme and the Sabre-Toothed Cub / Rita Wants a Dragon

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Esme and the Sabre-Toothed Cub
Simon Philip and Magda Brol
Oxford Children’s Books

Could it be that Esme’s best friend Morris the mammoth has his tusks put slightly out of joint when a little sabre-toothed tiger cub appears in the village and charms all the cave kids by its actions. Despite the adults having shooed it away on several consecutive days, Esme asks the visitor she’s named Seb, “Would you like to be my pet?” However, Seb is far from impressed at receiving one order after another from the little stone age girl who eventually gets the message that the creature has no intention of becoming anyone’s pet.

Morris however, decides that perhaps friendship could be the way to go and of course, Esme is eager to join in their fun and games, albeit from some way off. Then trouble rears its ferocious head.

Can Esme save the day and learn a thing or two as well?

With certain similarities to our 21st century world, Simon Philip’s second story of bossy young Esme and her fellow troglodytes is another humorous read aloud, made even more so by Magda Brol’s highly exuberant scenes of this endearing prehistoric community.

Rita Wants a Dragon
Máire Zepf and Mr Ando
Graffeg

In the fifth of this series starring the small girl with a huge imagination, young Rita is having a bad day. Everything is going wrong and she imagines a large fiery dragon to represent her angry feelings. However, even dragons can’t remain in an angry state all the time – it’s hugely exhausting to roar

and rant, stomp and stamp and breathe fiery flames so it’s as well that they can take flight and find somewhere alone to do some slow breathing to help that rage dissipate and to talk calmly about what has gone wrong. Then anger diffused, it’s time for a snuggly cuddle with a loving grown-up, a mum for example.

With powerful images created by Mr Ando on every spread, Máire Zeph’s tale of Rita’s challenging behaviour offers parents and educators in early years settings an enjoyable starting point for discussions about feelings of anger and how to cope with them.

Esme’s Rock

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Esme’s Rock
Simon Philip and Magda Brol
Oxford Children’s Books

Esme is a little cave girl with a lot of energy and curiosity and, a very powerful voice. That’s very useful if you want to ward off scary big creatures but definitely not so when it comes to keeping things secret. One thing she intends to do her utmost to keep her voice down about is the birthday surprise she’s organising for her best pal Morris the mammoth’s birthday.

Having wished him many happy returns, the transport arranged turns up to whisk Morris away for some pampering and she’s able to get on with carrying out the plans for the rest of the surprise. For this she has enlisted the help of her fellow cave people and they’re horrified at what the task entails in so short a time.

Come lunchtime it seems as though the painters are way behind schedule and Esme can’t keep her voice down any longer. What she yells echoes far and wide. Then, just when the painters are on the point of giving up their mammoth task, a party of strangers arrive armed with the necessary tools and it’s all systems go once more.

Finally it’s time for Esme to use that booming voice to summon Morris to his surprise celebration …
At last Esme’s voice comes into its own …

With Magda Brol’s exuberant illustrations, Simon Philip’s celebration of community spirit is a fun read aloud demonstrating that everybody has a special something to offer, albeit with a bit of channeling sometimes.

Pirates Don’t Go To School!

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Pirates Don’t Go To School!
Alan MacDonald and Magda Brol
Little Tiger

There seems to be no limit to the stream of piratical picture books set on the high seas; but a young pirate enrolling in a primary school, now that’s something rather different.

It is though what young Jake, fed up with ‘mopping parrot poop’ from the deck of the Salty Prawn, eventually persuades his Ma and Pa to allow him to do.

On arrival however, he does have some first day jitters.

And when he gets inside the classroom and removes his hat, both teacher and children – not to mention Jake himself – are in for something of a surprise.

His stowaway parrot, Poll, is in playful mood and leads Jake, children and teachers a merry dance

until the young pirate suddenly has an idea.

His action succeeds in calming down the lively bird, much to everyone’s relief, leaving Jake anticipating being sent home in disgrace.

Not so! Miss Cherry is an accommodating teacher and the lad happily spends his first day with the others until it’s time for his family to meet him.

That evening he regales them with the story of his first day at school; but will they allow him to return next morning? You bet; can Miss Cherry cope though?

Dirty Bertie author, Alan Macdonald has struck gold with this unlikely starting school tale. It’s perfect for young listeners soon to start school themselves, but equally will delight anyone partial to funny stories. This one’s made all the funnier thanks to Magda Brol’s spirited scenes of Jake, his family and his new friends, whether at sea or on land.

When the Crocodiles Came to Town / My Funny Bunny

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When the Crocodiles Came to Town
Magda Brol
Orchard Books

One day to everyone’s surprise two crocodiles turn up at Dullsville town and judging by their luggage, it seems they’re there to stay.

The problem, so our young narrator explains, is that they look different and behave differently and when it comes to the town’s rules, they show a complete lack of understanding which infuriates the inhabitants, and the mayor more than most, especially when they cavort on the precious golden donkey.

As for their ice-cream stall, that proves too messy and way too much fun for the killjoy Dullsvillites. In no uncertain terms, the crocs are given their marching orders.

That night however, as they pack up their belongings, two other outsiders, Glen and Freda Grabbit creep into the sleeping town helping themselves to items from all the houses.

Their eyes though are on the main prize – that precious golden donkey – and as a result they hurtle straight into the leavers.

A chase ensues but unbeknown to the robbers, the crocs have their own special weapon and it’s a highly effective one when it comes to apprehending the thieves.

Could it be that at as a result of the narrator’s plea to the Dullsville mayor, two leavers are about to become remainers after all?

Debut picture book author/illustrator, Magda Brol has created a very funny story with a very serious message about rejecting prejudice, and accepting and celebrating difference. Her zany illustrative style is action-packed and each spread has a wealth of details to chortle over.

My Funny Bunny
Christine Roussey
Abrams Books for Young Readers

In her latest ‘pet’ book, Christine Roussey features a rabbit and a small boy.

It’s the boy’s sixth birthday and he receives a large gift box from his favourite uncle. Eagerly anticipating the dwarf rabbit of his dreams the lad opens it to discover, yes a bunny, but this one resembles a large potato with yucky, clumpy fur and wire-like whiskers. Hmm!

Thoroughly disappointed, the boy lets off steam in his room before telling his new acquisition that he was unwanted and unlovable; and then going on to carry out a series of destructive acts before collapsing in a sobbing, snivelling heap.

The bunny however, isn’t going anywhere in a hurry. He leaps from the box and makes soothing advances to his owner.

Before long, with damage repaired …

and temper tantrums assuaged, the two have become firm friends, celebrating a funny bunny birthday together and forging a lifelong attachment.

An adorable furry character and an emotional little boy narrator show young readers the importance of getting to know someone or something rather than making a snap judgement.

Roussey’s characteristically quirky illustrations and her outspoken narrative work beautifully in tandem making for a lovely story to share.