the more I think about this, the more I like this book. Beautifully written, Toby Ibbotson takes the reader through a thoroughly modern landscape, with thoroughly modern children to an ancient mythical place. It contains enough contemporary detail to hold today's child, but it's full of wonder and magic and things that we're not sure are real - or fantasy? I think it's a stand out book - massively recommended.

This is such a lovely book. We follow three main characters - Judy, who lives on a houseboat and is doing her best to pretend everything is fine; William, who loves to collect interesting things but finds himself in tricky situations; and Stefan, who is a wizard at mechanics and lives in the cold north of Sweden. All three characters are great and believable, I loved Judy's fierceness and William's different way of seeing the world - I think he is probably autistic but love that this isn't made to be an issue or a problem, but is just part of his character. The story is fast-paced and exciting, and the descriptions of Stefan's world especially are stunning - so different to England! I loved the hints of magic and mythology, but throughout it is very real and touches on some important topics from perspectives readers might not have come across before. A very rich book, with a lovely cosy feeling to get wrapped up in!