posted on 28 May 2025

Finders of Silverthorn Forest: The Lost Treasures by Rachel Chivers Khoo, illustrated by Laura Catalán

Who doesn’t love a book with a map at the start to help the reader become immersed in a new fictional world? Before we even discovered this, my six-year-old grandson was intrigued by the cover that showed a confident looking boy carrying a shovel and what looked like a rolled-up map in his hand. We were pleased to see no adults in sight but instead, several animals watching him as he made his way through the forest. We liked the gold lettering and smattering of gold dust but also wondered about the random domestic objects hanging in the tree branches.

It seems that the boy, Max is about to encroach on the mysterious world of the Finders who live in the forest by his grandma’s house. He and his mom are helping her with the difficult task of packing up all her precious possessions, so that she can come to live with them. She has been pestered by Mr Pennington who is keen to buy the house and the land as quickly as possible. He turns out to be a proper villain who cares nothing about the environment but just wants to make money. Grandma is sad to be leaving the home where she has happily lived all her life, but is also looking forward to the future. Her dearest wish is to find the time capsule which she buried when she was ten years old. Unfortunately, she can’t quite remember where she hid it and time is running out if Max is going to help her find it.

She tells him about a treehouse that she built in Silverthorn Forest, so he is determined to find it, just in case the special box is buried nearby. What he doesn’t realise is that the place is now occupied by Tuft, a small magical creature who, like the rest of the Finders who live there, is very wary of humans. As they begin a very tentative friendship, Max comes to understand that the Finders have a very different perspective on the world. Interestingly, their beliefs and philosophy of life seem to be centred around what inscribed on the lid of a special box which was discovered in the forest many years ago.

We looked at one another at this point and both exclaimed ’ It might be grandma’s missing box!’ I won’t reveal how the story unfolds but, suffice it to say, there are many twists and turns along the way that include plenty of potentially dangerous situations which kept us turning the pages. Tuft turns out to be a sensitive, clever and very independent creature who sometimes challenges his wise elders, but only because he is trying to save the forest from destruction.  

I liked the way in which the author explains why it is important to respect nature and to be considerate of other creatures. She also keeps the feelings of the grandmother in the foreground and reminds us that she used to be a ten- year- old girl with many hopes and dreams, but that she is also positive about what comes next in her later years. The story is brought alive by the plentiful illustrations that help to convey the beauty of the forest and round out the many characters. We both enjoyed the informative afterwords which provided further details about ancient trees, solar eclipses and how to make a time capsule. I can see how the book would provide some very interesting themes for discussion and further research in the classroom.     

I strongly recommend this engaging and magical book. Available now from Walker Books, you will be able to get this from your local independent bookshop - who will be happy to order it for you if they don’t have it on their shelves.

 

Karen Argent

May 2025