Little Legends: The Spell Thief Synopsis: Jack (of the beanstalk fame) and his magical talking chicken, Betsy, have always been great at making new friends. But when Jack spots Anansi, the new kid in town, talking to a troll in the Deep Dark Woods, everything changes. Everyone knows that trolls mean trouble, and Jack will do anything to prove to the rest of his friends that Anansi is a troll spy. Even if that means using stolen magic! A brilliant new highly illustrated series featuring all the fairy-tale characters you know and love having brand-new adventures! – Goodreads
The Spell Thief Review
The Spell Thief is a cute and engaging story that is perfect for beginning chapter readers. It can easily be worked through alone, or be a great story for parents to read with their children. The illustrations are wonderful. Even though they’re not colored, the kids look like they could step off the page at any moment and go cavorting across your desk. Simple but expressive, each character looks unique and memorable.
This first Little Legends book features the well-known Jack (minus his beanstalk), Red, Rapunzel and the twins (Hansel and Gretel). The story is a simple, easy to understand one that’s repeated in so many forms in children’s stories. It operates under the assumption that the kids know at least the basics of the character’s individual tales, but is not a fairy tale retelling. Instead, it spins a classic yarn found in kid’s tales. A kid with good intentions manages to flub things up, and then has to fix them.
At the end of the book there’s a section introducing the new characters you’ve met. In The Spell Thief, we were introduced to Lily, the sea-witch in training, and Anansi. Anansi was interesting because I didn’t expect him to be mixed in with the rest of your easily identifiable characters. However, Tom Percival did a great job of sliding the African folktale character seamlessly into the story. Betsy, the magical talking chicken, was a great addition to the cast and sure to make kiddos cackle.
I love the idea of a Story Tree, where branches are created from stories. The bigger and more fantastic the story, the bigger the shoot. It’s just something you can see growing in your head, and it sounds beautiful. In my mind, the stories themselves get etched into the leaves that are hanging off that particular branch. Overall, this book is well worth the money, and I’d highly recommend getting it to add to your child’s bookshelves. It will give a truly entertaining reading experience for them.
The Spell Thief is available on Amazon.
Title: The Spell Thief | Series: Little Legends #1 | Author: Tom Percival (site)| Publisher: Macmillan Children’s Books | Pub. Date: 2016-2-11 | Pages: 177 | ASIN: B015D17E6I | Genre: Children’s Fiction | Language: English | Triggers: None | Rating: 5 out of 5 | Date Read: 2016-8-2
