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Friday, 18 January 2019

ReadItDaddy's Chapter Book of the Week - Week Ending 18th January 2019: "Midnight at Moonstone" by Lara Flecker and Trisha Krauss (OUP / Oxford Children's Books)

Posted by ReadItDaddy at January 18, 2019 Labels: , , , ,
Our Chapter Book of the Week won't be with you until the 4th of April (ARGH!) but trust us on this one, it'll be worth the wait...
So we're diving in early into the glorious twilight world of "Midnight at Moonstone" by Lara Flecker with illustrations by Trisha Krauss.

We do love a spooky book and when C started talking about 'creepy mannequins' I knew this was going to be a huge hit.

The story centres around a young girl named Kit. 

Her absentee father is a harsh old soul who expects nothing less than excellence from his kids. Quite often Kit is left with her brother and sister but after a blazing argument Kit steals away to visit her grandfather at Moonstone Manor. 

The Manor is a run-down costume museum once filled with extravagant wonders, in dire need of some TLC. Filled with mysterious mannequins and amazing clothes, the exhibits are like the house and have definitely seen better days. 

But Kit soon discovers that there is still magic within Moonstone's walls, and the old costumes hold their own secret splendour.

Every night, on the stroke of midnight, the costumes come to life!

What's more, the costumed mannequins have an awful lot to say - perhaps Kit can enlist their help to save her Grandfather's collection from greedy developers who are eyeing up Moonstone Manor. 

Will Kit save the day? 

This is a glorious, mysterious and completely enveloping story that instantly felt original, compelling and quite thrilling. The sort of stuff we really love discovering in middle grade fiction, a story that's not scared to tinge its edges with a bit of darkly delicious spine-tingling atmosphere, but above all a really brilliantly written story of a little girl who discovers she can make a difference after all. 

Absolutely spellbinding. Get saving your pennies for April as this is really something quite special. 

C's favourite bit: When the mannequins first come to life and practically scare the pants off Kit. 

Daddy's favourite bit: I just love how this one completely draws you in with gorgeous descriptive and atmospheric writing underpinned by exquisite illustrations. Truly ace, this!

"Midnight at Moonstone" by Lara Flecker and Trisha Krauss is out on 4th April 2019, published by OUP / Oxford Children's Books (kindly supplied for review).