Friday, January 01, 2010

Tensy Farlow and the Home for Mislaid Children

Author: Jen Storer; cover and text illustrations by Sonia Kretschmar

Publication Date: 2009

Category: Children's story, adventure, fantasy.

Who'll want to read it? Primary school kids and grownups.

Point of no return: I just had to buy this book when I saw the front cover. About a week before I discovered this book I had a dream that I had masses of curly red hair - just like Tensy Farlow!

Classic line: "At the sound of Albie's tuneless singing the baby gave a tremulous sigh. The droning voice and the dull rattle of the lorry quickly worked their magic and before long she was lulled into a twilight state. By the time Wiggin Row was behind them and they had entered the rolling hills of Mumbles Fell, it was all she could do to stay awake." pg 5

What's it all about?: A baby girl is left in a basket on the steps of the hospital in Wiggin Row. Mistaking her for a basket of linen, Albie Gribble puts her in the back of his lorry, and so begins the adventure. This is a beautiful story featuring GAs (Guardian Angels), an evil spirit, the wicked Matron Pluckrose & Mrs Beadle, some mysterious "watchers" and an abominable orphanage known as "The Home for Mislaid Children". Join Tensy and Albie on their journey and put a little magic back in your life.

Publisher: Penguin. See the book trailer on YouTube.

6 comments:

Paul said...

This sounds like an interesting tale to say the least. The way you have described it reminds me of the style of 'A Series Of Unfortunate Events'. (I have only seen the DVD and not read the book.)

Kieran said...

I enjoyed this book more than "A series of unfortunate events" and Harry Potter combined! (I only read the first 2 Harry Potter books).

Krystal said...

It seriously does sound like 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' to me. The only difference is that Tensy Farlow has extra stuff, such as guardian angels and evil spirits. Matron sounds like Count Olaf, and they both love money.

Kieran said...

Hi Krystal, thanks for dropping by. I hope you get a chance to read the book and tell us what you think - I love having conversations about books.

67 D William Duncan State School said...

This book is awesome! Like reviews have mentioned, this book is dark, has sinister characters and shouldn't be read right before bed time.

Kieran said...

Great - if you've read anything similar let me know. I'm always looking for something new.