Jeff Dinardo

Think about your favourite childhood fantasy books. What did they have? Adventure, danger, fun, thrills? Gnomes, trolls, sprites, elves? Secret passageways and hidden treasures? Rivalries and friendships? And most importantly, a happy ending? Do you want a single book that contains each and every item mentioned here? Here’s the book you are looking for.

The One Great Gnome is a middle-grade fantasy featuring an eleven year old Sarah who finds herself struggling to settle in rural show more Connecticut after a life in NYC. While exploring her new house and its surroundings, she discovers a statue of an old garden gnome. Imagine her surprise when somehow, the garden gnome comes to life. Her, and our, adventures begin thereon.

I loved the story. It has nothing exceptional and yet it is exceptional. It has everything a great children's story needs: fabulous writing, interesting characters, quick pacing, loads of fun adventures and plenty of moral lessons. I felt as if I were talking a nostalgic amble through my childhood storybooks, especially through The Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland.

There is a secret clue hidden within the book title too which I can't reveal as it is a minor spoiler. But I just want to say to the author: I loved that secret, especially because I couldn't figure it out till the end and felt quite foolish for taking so long to realise who/what it stood for.

I was fortunate enough to receive the audio ARC of this book from NetGalley. And man! How that enhanced my experience! Simone Stevens, take a bow! You are one heck of a narrator! This wasn't just a narration, it was an outstanding acting performance. So many distinct voices for each character, such feelings inserted in every sentence, such fabulous enacting of sounds such as laughter... I've rarely enjoyed an audiobook as much as I did this one. To add to the experience, I loved the producer's decision of adding sound effects wherever practically possible. To hear the door creaking, the footsteps stomping, the cat mewing, ... Wow! I'm sure children will enjoy all these sounds as they listen to the story.

Recommended to every child and every adult who forgot to grow up.

Thank you, NetGalley and One Elm Books, for the Advanced Audio Review Copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

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This book is an entertaining read for a child that will probably make them laugh. It follows a cat exploring outer space and this picture book is an exciting imaginative read for a kid. A fun book for that classroom that has fun space elements.

This is a fantasy book because it talks about how a cat has always had dreams of going into space. When she read books and tried to build models on it, the dog told her she was going to fail. The cat was determined and decided to blast off into space anyways and was very happy that she did. I could use this book to talk about space and go into a discussion on what all consist in space. Another way I could use this is to talk about determination and ask the class if they have ever wanted to show more do something badly but someone else put them down and ask them how they felt. The media in this book is acrylic and mixed media. show less

This is a fantasy book because it describes a story about how a fox becomes hungry in the middle of the night after smelling pies coming the owls house. As he grew more hungry he tried to take on of the pies from her pile and ended up burring his hand from how hot the pies were. I could use this book to discuss the importance of right vs wrong. I could also use this book in my class to ask the class what they feel was wrong that the hungry fox did and why they think it was wrong. The media show more in this book is colored pencil, watercolor and acrylic. show less