Take a photo of a barcode or cover
wordsofclover 's review for:
An Encounter with the Number Twelve
by Janet O’Leary
3.5 Stars.
12-year-old Peadar has lived with his Granny almost all his life, with his best friend - a white goat called Billy Bán. When Peadar has a special dream one night, he realises that his parents aren't dead like he thought - but trapped in fairyland by a wicked magician. Now Peadar and Billy Bán must take on a great adventure (which could end up with a showdown against evil magician Duodecimus!) to help save Peadar's parents before it's too late.
This was a really fun, cute children's book that not only was a lovely little adventure full of great characters and wonderful scenery (who doesn't love a fairyland with all sorts of magical roads - it feels like there's a lot more adventures to be had here too with the different roads!) but it also held some wonderful messages that are so important for young readers like the importance of kindness, gentleness and love always triumphing over evil.
Peadar was a great character to follow. He's wicked smart and took on everything he could, while still showing a lot of caring and empathy for others (Billy Bán and Lucy especially). I loved all the different characters Peadar met in Fairyland, and I feel like there was a nod in this book to a lot of other well-loved side characters from other tales like Mr Tumnus and Tom Bombadil and maybe even The Good Witch of Oz in Lady Lavendar.
The story was full of little riddles and puzzles which I think younger readers would really love, though I wonder if some kids might need to get parents to help them understand them, or it could be a but too much for them - but it all depends on the type of reader too. The story had lots of ups and downs and twists and turns and I think it was paced really nicely. There was obviously a lot of thought put into this story and it felt really well-detailed and well-edited (which can sometimes not be the case with self-published books).
The narration of the story felt a little bit formal at times but I didn't mind that too much. Peadar could be a formal little boy sometimes too!
I think this is great for young readers but I also feel like this might be a great book for parents to read to kids aged 9/10 until they really want to grab the book and read for themselves. I feel like we met lots of great characters who deserve their own stories in this world (Lucy and Fionn for example) and I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next for everyone.
12-year-old Peadar has lived with his Granny almost all his life, with his best friend - a white goat called Billy Bán. When Peadar has a special dream one night, he realises that his parents aren't dead like he thought - but trapped in fairyland by a wicked magician. Now Peadar and Billy Bán must take on a great adventure (which could end up with a showdown against evil magician Duodecimus!) to help save Peadar's parents before it's too late.
This was a really fun, cute children's book that not only was a lovely little adventure full of great characters and wonderful scenery (who doesn't love a fairyland with all sorts of magical roads - it feels like there's a lot more adventures to be had here too with the different roads!) but it also held some wonderful messages that are so important for young readers like the importance of kindness, gentleness and love always triumphing over evil.
Peadar was a great character to follow. He's wicked smart and took on everything he could, while still showing a lot of caring and empathy for others (Billy Bán and Lucy especially). I loved all the different characters Peadar met in Fairyland, and I feel like there was a nod in this book to a lot of other well-loved side characters from other tales like Mr Tumnus and Tom Bombadil and maybe even The Good Witch of Oz in Lady Lavendar.
The story was full of little riddles and puzzles which I think younger readers would really love, though I wonder if some kids might need to get parents to help them understand them, or it could be a but too much for them - but it all depends on the type of reader too. The story had lots of ups and downs and twists and turns and I think it was paced really nicely. There was obviously a lot of thought put into this story and it felt really well-detailed and well-edited (which can sometimes not be the case with self-published books).
The narration of the story felt a little bit formal at times but I didn't mind that too much. Peadar could be a formal little boy sometimes too!
I think this is great for young readers but I also feel like this might be a great book for parents to read to kids aged 9/10 until they really want to grab the book and read for themselves. I feel like we met lots of great characters who deserve their own stories in this world (Lucy and Fionn for example) and I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next for everyone.