Bella Broomstick

Bella Broomstick

You may recall that Monkey had his first taste of audio books last year and The Worst Witch was an instant hit.  I’m keen for him to read a balanced selection of books, with female lead characters as will as male. We are thrilled to be asked to get involved with the Bella Broomstick Book Blog Tour and I thought it would be an ideal book for us to look at.

Bella Broomstick

Bella Broomstick is written by Lou Kuenzler and it’s released today through Scholastic UK. The 198 page chapter book, available in paperback and Kindle versions.  Whilst the book is predominately aimed at children who are now confident, independent readers, it can also be enjoyed by those, like Monkey who are starting out on their reading journey.

Monkey turned 6 last month, and as regular readers know well, whilst he loves being read to, getting him to read himself has been a bit of a challenge.  He got lots of Early Reader books for his birthday and Christmas and we passed a milestone over the holidays, when he realised that books with less pictures can still be fun.

With that revelation fresh in his mind, Bella Broomstick arrived with perfect timing. It’s been our bedtime reading book for the last week and Monkey has been totally transfixed as we’ve met and followed Belladonna on her adventures.  There are lots of little doodled illustrations throughout the book, which have given us moments to stop reading and discuss the action so far.

Poor Bella isn’t a very good witch, she takes after her parents who sadly turned themselves into mice to amuse her and promptly got eaten by a cat!  She’s taken in by her Aunt Hemlock, who whilst being a good witch, isn’t really very supportive and when Bella fails her exams at Creepy Castle for the third time, she’s expelled.  Her Aunt decides that magic and Bella just don’t go together, it’s time for her to leave the Magic Realm and she is sent off to ‘Person World’ where she is not to practice magic again.

This comes as somewhat of a relief to our young hero, who has always wanted to see how Person World works – how toilets flush for example!  We learn at the beginning of the story, that whilst Bella’s skills with the wand are lacking, she can talk to animals, all sorts of animals.  This skill will guide her through her adventures, especially when she meets Rascal the kitten, and a new friendship is made.  Can Bella fit in in Person World?

Of course telling any child that they can’t do something always results in the reverse doesn’t it.  Will Bella get herself into a pickle or will she master the spells and save the day?

I won’t ruin the plot for you, but Monkey and I have both enjoyed catching up with Bella Broomstick at bedtime and I’m pleased to hear that there will be a second book in the series too.  There’s plenty of humour throughout the story and the characters really did hold Monkey’s attention.

Priced at £5.99 this is a real page turner for young readers and it’s certainly shown Monkey that as he becomes more confident with his own reading, that more wordy books can still be thoroughly entertaining.  I’ve included my Amazon affiliate link for you below for your reference.  You can also follow the Bella Broomstick Blog Book Tour and see what others think of this newly published book too.  Happy reading!

Bella Broomstick

disclaimer:  we were sent this book in exchange for an honest review

 

 

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