posted on 03 Mar 2022

Pages & Co. Tilly and the Bookwanderers by Anna James

This is the first instalment of what has gone on to be a hugely popular series of Pages & Co. books that now, I think, runs to four full adventures. The novels are aimed at book-loving young readers who just adore the idea of vanishing into or becoming part of their favourite stories and maybe even getting to know their favourite characters better. By this I don’t just mean those of us who like to curl up with a favourite book and let our imaginations loose: nothing as simple as that. What Anna James has conjured-up for us is a world in which the empathic reader can actually physically enter their book of choice. But before you get too carried away with the thrill of this, it is a process that’s also as permeated with jeopardy as it is with joy – as our hero, Tilly Pages is about to find out.

Tilly (Matilda) lives in the cozy, ideal bookshop, Pages & Co., owned by her grandparents. But a mystery surrounds what happened to her father, who she has never known, and her mother who seems to have just disappeared without trace. Tilly loves to read and her favourite books are Alice in Wonderland and Anne of Green Gables and so it comes as something of a surprise to her when Anne and Alice suddenly start appearing in the bookshop and chatting with her as if they were real people.

Tilly finally confides her experiences to Oskar, a young boy of her age who lives across the road in the cake shop and the two of them find themselves being taken on a trip by Anne to her school in Avonlea and the two youngsters have to try and get their heads around the idea that they have somehow been able to physically enter Anne of Green Gables and experience life in Anne’s school.

It becomes clear that there is something very strange going on in the bookshop and Tilly’s grandparents finally have to explain that what’s happening is called ‘bookwandering’ and they tell the children that it’s time to introduce them to the mysterious Underlibrary that’s situated below the British Library.

As Tilly discovers more about the rules and regulations governing bookwondering she starts to discover that her whole past and the mystery of her parents and their whereabouts is wrapped up in some way with her mother’s favourite book, The Little Princess. But along with Oskar who is determined to help her solve the puzzle of what’s going on, finding the  answer isn’t going to be easy – especially when their every move is being watched by the sinister Enoch Chalk whose animosity towards Tilly suggests that there is a deeper story to uncover.

I’m not going to reveal any more of the plot or how Tilly and Oskar get on – and I’m certainly not going to reveal the twist in the story that explains how and why her parents disappeared. You’ll have to get the book and find all that out for yourself.

This is most definitely a book for bookish children aged 8 and above – they will absolutely love it. It’s also a good book for children who just like an adventure story: hopefully it will fire an enthusiasm for all things bookish in them too.

Paperback copies are easy to find and not expensive. There is also a box set of the series that would make an excellent gift for a birthday.

 

Terry Potter

March 2022