Full Reviews
Rossa Byrne
Aged 10, Delgany, Co. Wicklow, Ireland.
My Snowy Owl “Ollie”
Do you like Magic, Witches, Warlocks ? Well if you do, you will totally enjoy “The Secrets of Grindlewood”. The book is about an evil warlock Worfeus, who is doomed to spend his time trapped in a “frozen” forest. He wants nothing more that to be freed but he cannot until he can find a lost scroll. Trying to stop the evil warlock is a group of animals who live in the garden of Grindlewood, very close to the forest. After many years “Grindlewood” now has new occupants, mum, dad, children and family pets, who know nothing of the history of their surroundings. However, as time goes by, the children, with the help of the animals, start to uncover the past and unlock the secrets of Grindlewood.
I thought the story was really good because it was exciting and full of adventure. The opening battle is amazing and immediately gets you involved in the story. I really liked Timber, who is very brave and clever.
Also, I enjoyed the different characters of the animals – especially Oberon, the wise old snowy owl. I also liked the way the animals worked together, using their individual strengths and skills to try defeat and conquer the evil warlock.
I would recommend this book to others. I thought it was great because it is full of mystery and adventure. I think anyone who enjoys a good mystery will love this book.
Rossa Byrne
12th August 2013
Sophia O'Boyle
When the good witch Wanda is defeated by the evil warlock Worfeus the animal residents of Grindlewood manor are about to find out what destiny holds in store for them. When Jamie and Jemima move in to their new house their pets Timber and Teddy are very happy to have other friends in the garden.
Meanwhile, deep inside the woods the evil warlock is planning to destroy the magical garden along with its residents.
The only thing in his way is Wanda’s secret scroll which is said to hold the spell to rid the world of this evil warlock.
Timber and Teddy join in immediately on their quest to find the secret scroll but will they find it before the warlock?
This book was written by Jackie Burke and this is my first time reading her work. She has written this piece beautifully and I can’t wait for the sequel. The book is beautifully built and detailed. The illustrations were lovely to find here and there and I was very honoured when my library teacher asked me to read it because I in fact would like to be an author and I hope that I can be as good as her one day.
My personal favourite was Norville the hedgehog. Ms Burke described him so well that I could just imagine the scene that she was writing about!
I still can’t get over the fact that this is her first book as she writes just as well as an author who has been writing for years such as Marita Conlon-McKenna, another successful Irish author.
If I were to rate I would give this book 11 out of ten because it was just so good!
I wish this author the best and I hope she will keep on writing these amazing books.
By Sofia O’Boyle
September 2013
Roisin Kennedy
In this book there are two children called Jemima & Jamie. They move into Grindlewood House with their pets Timber & Teddy. They soon find out that the pets from the garden itself are magical! Jemima & Jamie read about how a good witch called Wanda & an evil warlock called Worfeus fought in a battle of life & death. Sadly Wanda was defeated. Worfeus was going to try to destroy Grindlewood & its garden! Luckily the pets from their garden knew about a scroll that Wanda had hidden in the garden. The scroll contained the spell that would destroy Worfeus. The only problem was that the pets didn’t know where the scroll was!
I found this book very exciting & I couldn’t put it down. I would recommend it to readers who like books with adventures & magic.
By Roisin Kennedy
Fourth class, Scoil Mochua, Celbridge
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