good book nice little read but wouldnt recommend it to anyone who like to dive straight in to action ( )

Very cute story about how the small town of Manod is affected when the National Gallery moves its art collection to the town's abandoned quarry. Similar in style to Boyce's first book, Millions, Framed focuses on one boy's quirky perspective of Manod. This is wonderful for showing how art inspires each person who views it. The story is filled with many interesting art history facts mixed together with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and car trivia. ( )

As an adult did I enjoy it - yes, it was okay. If I was a child would I enjoy it - definitely. This is a great book for children but not so much for adults reading children's books. Highly enjoyable, short chapters and some great characters.

The author saw a press cutting describing how, during the Second World War, a collection of valuable paintings from the National Gallery was evacuated to Wales and stored in slate mines for safe keeping. He then went on to think about living on top of a mountain full of treasure. So think Tracy Chevalier then bring it down to kids level :-)

If you are a parent and want to be involved in kids reading then this is a good one because it could lead to finding out a lot about different pieces of art and their artists. As a teacher, the list is endless - I think this could become a teaching book for me - there is some great stuff to get your teeth stuck in to. This could lead to all sorts of cross-curricular stuff - Science, Geography, Art, Languages (Welsh), film and English as it is set in a dairy format.

The plot is intriguing as you aren't given any clues as the reader to tell you how it will all work out. The blurb (as in all children's books) is very important as it is clear from this what you can expect as you are reading it. I enjoyed this and because the Ninja Turtles are still a hit this will go down well for quite a few years more. ( )

Children's Books Too Cool For School
How cute is this story? Well, I'll tell you how cute it is. In just a minute. I'd heard really great things about Boyce's first kid's novel, Millions, but I didn't happen to have a copy of that laying about the house. I did, however, have an old advance copy of Framed that I never got around to reading. (You will notice this is a theme with me.) It's a good thing I occasionally run out of reading material I intentionally acquired, because then I get to experience pleasant surprises like this.

Dylan Hughes, the son of the proprietors of the Snowdonia Oasis Auto Marvel (a petrol station and garage), has just become the last boy in the tiny town on Manod. Families have been abandoning the extremely gray and rainy former mining town as financial prospects become worse and worse. Dylan, though, loves his hometown, and the interesting characters that populate it. Take Nice Tom (formerly Daft Tom), who knows everything there is to know about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In Tom's honor, Dylan names some baby chickens after two of the Turtles -- Michelangelo and Donatello -- and that's where the trouble starts.

Because when the art museum in London must find a place to hide its precious paintings while London is experiencing massive flooding, they decide to use the old mines in Manod as a storage facility. (Lest this sound completely implausible, they really did store the paintings there during WWII). And when the man in charge of the paintings, Lester, discovers Dylan's chickens and their names, he thinks Dylan is fascinated with great art, not Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. However, Dylan does develop an interest in art, as does the rest of the town, and a curious relationship develops between the town and the art that begins to expose gray Manod's hidden beauty.

Problem is, there still aren't enough jobs and money to go around, and the Snowdonia Oasis Auto Marvel is failing. That is, until Dylan's criminal-mastermind sister comes up with a plan that will exploit Dylan's relationship with Lester, but hopefully leave them very, very rich.

I'm not overly fond of the word "heartwarming." It conjures up Hallmark movies, and I don't like Hallmark movies. But it is, nonetheless, a term that applies to Framed. However, the story is also wickedly funny. I mean, even the basic plot idea is pretty absurdly funny. Dylan is quite naive and oblivious which has both comic effect (as when he doesn't realize that his chickens are named after famous painters) and creates some touching moments (like his refusal to give up on his father).

It's a sweet story, but keeps just on this side of saccharine. It never takes itself too seriously, and doesn't underestimate its readers. This one will have fairly equal boy/girl appeal. Harder to gauge is age-appropriateness, but I'd say between 10 and 13. And those of us who are 10-13 at heart, of course. ( )

$16.95