LoveReading4Kids Says
LoveReading4Kids Says
January 2021 Book of the Month
Set in a magical world, this glorious tale of adventure and daring stars the most unlikely heroine because, as the narrator explains, sometimes it takes a story to show that the truly extraordinary people – the ones who defeat monsters and save kingdoms – are often the ones that nobody notices at first. If that statement doesn’t make you want to snatch up the book and read it from beginning to end, then you have no heart! Smudge is indeed overlooked – she’s clumsy and in her own words ‘a bit useless’ but somehow, she emerges as the only hope for Crackledown when the evil harpy Morg tries to steal its magic. Fortunately, Smudge is also courageous, inventive and determined – and she has an equally remarkable helper in the shape of tea-drinking, trilby-wearing talking monkey, Bartholomew. Their adventures as they sail beyond the treacherous Northswirl and journey into the heart of the Everdark forest are filled with everything that makes for the best adventures, including magic, drama, narrow escapes, shared laughter and lots of heart. Originally published for World Book Day, Everdark has been reissued in a dyslexia friendly format, which is wonderful news for children like Smudge who struggle with reading and spelling, but everyone should read it.
Everdark is a standalone story but part of Abi Elphinstone’s The Unmapped Chronicles series, which are also highly recommended.
Andrea Reece
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About
Everdark Synopsis
The stunning prequel to Abi Elphinstone's mesmerising The Unmapped Chronicles series.
Where the map ends, the adventure begins . . . It is midnight in Crackledawn - a midnight full of magic. Sea dragons stir in the depths of the ocean, silver whales surface beneath the moon and sand goblins line the shores. Everyone is waiting for the phoenix, the guardian of the kingdom's magic, to rise up from the forests of Everdark. But there is no sign of the phoenix tonight. Something else surges up out of Everdark instead: a harpy bent on stealing Crackledawn's magic. It is up to an eleven-year-old girl called Smudge and a grumpy monkey called Bartholomew to set sail beyond the legendary Northswirl and stop the harpy before it's too late. So, grab your compass and roll down your sail - the first adventure in The Unmapped Chronicles is about to begin . . .
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781471194702 |
| Publication date: |
7th January 2021 |
| Author: |
Abi Elphinstone |
| Publisher: |
Simon & Schuster Childrens Books an imprint of Simon & Schuster Ltd |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
199 pages |
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Press Reviews
Abi Elphinstone Press Reviews
Praise for the Unmapped Chronicles
‘A suspenseful and beautifully imagined fantasy that will have a new generation of followers’ Telegraph
‘As ever, Elphinstone’s control of her complex universe is faultless and the thrilling plot is underpinned by a touching, emotional backstory’ Daily Mail
‘The Unmapped Chronicles recalls CS Lewis and Roald Dahl’ Sunday Times
Praise for Abi Elphinstone;
'Imaginative, adventurous and wonderful' Robin Stevens, author of A Murder Most Unladylike series
'The Unmapped Chronicles series is irresistible' Lauren St John
'Abi Elphinstone has created a complete world so believably and effortlessly, I can only marvel' Piers Torday
'Brimming with enchantment and adventure' Catherine Doyle
'Abi Elphinstone is proving to be a worthy successor to CS Lewis' The Times
Author
About Abi Elphinstone
A World Book Day Author 2019
Abi Elphinstone grew up in Scotland where she spent most of her childhood running wild across the moors, hiding in tree houses and building dens in the woods. After being coaxed out of her tree house, she studied English at Bristol University and then worked as an English teacher in Tanzania, Berkshire and London. Abi has written numerous much-loved middle grade novels and picture books and has been shortlisted for multiple awards.
When she's not writing, Abi can be found working for The Lamp Of Lothian Trust and scrambling up Scottish mountains with her husband and three little kids.
She is the author of The Dreamsnatcher, The Shadow Keeper and The Night Spinner; a series of fast-paced adventure books for 8-12 year olds which follow Moll, Sid, Alfie and a wildcat, Gryff, as they search for the Amulets of Truth to stop a group of sinister witchdoctors taking over their world. She is also the curator of the anthology Winter Magic.
Her 2018 book Sky Song was a snow-swept tale of adventure and friendship. The book was a Waterstones Book of the Month and was also shortlisted for the Independent Bookshop Week Book Award and the Sainsbury Children’s Book Award for Fiction as well as being longlisted for the Blue Peter Book Award and nominated for the Carnegie Medal. The Times has praised Abi has ‘a worthy successor to CS Lewis’ and The Guardian described Sky Song as ‘a truly magical tale’.
Abi’s series The Unmapped Chronicles is an epic and wide-reaching new series of interlinked standalone novels about magical kingdoms which coexist alongside our continents and hold all the magic needed to conjure sunlight, snow, rain and every untold wonder behind the weather for them. Abi released a World Book Day book, Everdark, in March 2019. Everdark is a prequel to The Unmapped Chronicles.
Abi volunteers for Beanstalk charity, is a patron for the brilliant Grimm & Co and is heavily involved in campaigning for Authors4Oceans. When she's not writing, Abi enjoys speaking in schools and travels the world looking for her next story. Her latest adventures include living with the Kazakh Eagle Hunters in Mongolia and dog-sledging across the Arctic.
More About Abi Elphinstone
