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#HistFicThursdays - Capturing the Essence of History

 I - along with my fellow members of Crowvus - are very excited about our new release on 16th September. We fell in love with this story for a number of different reasons, and one of the key ones for me was the role of history. Of course, when you have a story about the governing and governance of time, there is going to be some element of the past, but the way in which Elizabeth McKay so casually and seamlessly interweaves the past with the present is both clever and effective. Finding our own place in time is not always easy, and neither is finding a place in our current time for the past. Discussing an historical fiction book recently over the weekend's breakfast, we were led into the confusing cycle of how fine the line is between pioneering characters and utterly unbelievable ones. The conversation actually began because of a discussion into our family tree and a look at how the role of registry offices allowed for a step away from the power of the church. In our increasingly ...
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Book Review: The Stranger of Wigglesworth - Colby Hess

Blurb:

The arrival of a mysterious stranger in the happy village of Giggleswick causes a schism that disrupts their innocent, carefree existence. A brave, clever, freethinking boy then sets off on a quest to reveal the stranger’s deception and rescue his fellow villagers.


Review:


This is the story of how a stranger appears and starts telling happy, content people that they'll be more happy and content if they live their lives his way. When they refuse, things start going wrong in their joyful little village of Giggleswick. But all is not as it seems... there is a darker force at work!


I thoroughly enjoyed it. To me, it had elements of The Pied Piper of Hamelin by Robert Browning, both in content and style. The story is written in a kind of gentle poetry which is more about rhythm than rhyme and that makes it a wonderful thing to read aloud.

The Stranger of Wigglesworth is a picture book for older children. It states clearly on the cover that it is for Ages 6-11, and it's important to keep this in mind when reading it. There are a lot of words in here which littler children wouldn't understand, and some parts of the story are very dark. The only slight issue I had with it was that, on one single occasion, the illustrations got so dark that I struggled to see what was happening, but that didn't spoil the overall reading experience for me.

This is a book to be read aloud where possible - and definitely one to be shared!

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