It is time for Cool Mom to participate in the Kid Lit Blog Hop. Thanks, Cool Mom!
Description (from Amazon): The Princelings of the East is the first of a trilogy telling of the adventures of Fred and George.
When the King's Birthday feast is ruined by an unnatural power drain, our Princeling heroes leave their scientific experiments to set out in search of answers. They encounter the enigmatic businessman Hugo, the impressive Prince of Buckmore, the wise Lady Nimrod, the irrepressible barkeep Victor, but find themselves threatened by those with vested interests. The scene shifts from a rural, feudal setting to the towers and heights of the curious Isle of Hattan, but where, or when, are they? Time is of the essence in solving this puzzle, and our heroes must keep their wits sharp and their heads clear if they are to survive.
Suitable for good readers aged 8 and over, The Princelings of the East is a fantasy adventure with the charm of the Wind in the Willows in a world reminiscent of Anne MacCaffrey's Pern.
Review:
I found myself enchanted by this tale of time traveling guinea pigs. Guinea pigs who find themselves on a quest searching for the cause of an energy drain. Shortly into the story, I identified with George, the engineer, who gains “excitement over a new project., …itching to do something to keep himself busy” when one of his creations has been destroyed.
The charming pencil drawn illustrations by the author, at the beginning of each chapter, are a lovely addition to the text. The combination of the sweet drawings along with the chapter subtitles, often made me smile. My most favorite subtitle was the one found at the start of Chapter 7: "A Close Shave, In which George finds that engineers need people skills more than people need engineering skills" had me laughing out loud.
After reading The Princelings of the East, I felt as if my IQ had gone up a few points with Ms. Pett's vocabulary choices - what refreshing text. This true adventure book which includes a fight, time travel and mysterious strangers is reminiscent of Wind in the Willows - with a twist.
The hero at the end of the story came as a bit of a surprise and everything wrapped up very neatly at the end. The final secret message delivered was a fantastic note to remind us all how important it is to believe in oneself.
I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. I enjoyed it very much and look forward to reading the next book in the Princelings series.
Jemima also has a fantastic blog about all of her guinea pigs that has kept my daughter's interest. I have caught her giggling while visiting Ms. Pett's Guinea Pig World.
Katrina - Be sure to tell Zorg about this book. I believe he will enjoy the adventures of George and Fred immensely.
Clean Read? Yes.
Ages: The Amazon description states, "Suitable for good readers aged 8 and over." I would venture to guess that these readers would need to be quite strong due to the great vocabulary used in Pett's book. Ages 10 and up may be more the norm.
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