West of the West Wind
Written by Nils Johan-Jorgensen
Illustrated by Michael Avery
Published by Book Guild Ltd
In our quest to feature brilliant books from independent and self published folk, we've come across a rather interesting series of books. Nils Johan-Jorgensen has tapped into stories from the four corners of the earth for a series of 'Wind' tales examining folklore and stories from all over the world.
In "West of the West Wind" (part 3 of an eventual four-book series including North of the North Wind, East of the East Wind, West of the West Wind and the upcoming South of the South Wind) I worried that the subject matter might be a little dark for Charlotte, dealing as it does with one of the most harrowing eras in modern history, the outbreak of the Second World War.
Johan-Jorgensen's sensitive storytelling and expertise in dealing with such a dark subject comes to the fore in this tale of a young book-obsessed boy. Hearing horrific tales of books being removed from libraries, books being hoarded and then eventually burned and destroyed by Hitler's troops, the brave young lad embarks on a mission to rescue some of the illicit stories before they're lost forever.
With great courage and pluck, his mission is a success but the poor boy is soon caught, and faces persecution for being in possession of forbidden texts.
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| Michael Avery's atmospheric drawings accompany the fabulous "Winds" stories |
"West of the West Wind" is presented in a simple chapter format that's suitable for children who are just delving into their first 'big and proper' chapter books. I read aloud to Charlotte, and soon we found ourselves completely gripped by the story. It reminded me a little of "The Tale of the Book Thief" though perhaps purposely avoids some of the grittier subject matter you'd expect from a story about WWII - though not at the cost of providing an amazing engrossing and atmospheric tale, illustrated throughout by Michael Avery.
West of the West Wind by Nils-Johan Jorgensen is published by Book Guild Publishing on 27th March 2014; Price: £8.99; Hardback PPC; 49 pages. An E-book is also available.
For more information on West of the West Wind, and Nils' other books take a look at the Book Guild Website.
Charlotte's best bit: Thrilling and exciting though it deals with fairly dark subject matter (but is a great story to inspire children to explore the second world war in more detail)
Daddy's Favourite bit: Superbly atmospheric, and nicely short enough to be devoured over the course of a few bedtimes before settling your little ones down to sleep.
(Kindly sent to us for review by Book Guild Ltd)