Hi and welcome to my book blog! It's my turn on the book tour for Miss Mary-Kate Martin's Guide to Monsters: The Wrath of the Woolington Wyrm by Karen Foxlee and illustrated by Freda Chu. A middle grade novel and the first of two adventures for Miss Martin.
Dressed in sparkly red shoes and carrying her strawberry-scented notebook, Mary-Kate is accompanying her archaeologist mother to the tranquil English countryside to investigate some interesting bones found in an old well. But once they arrive, they realise that the village of Woolington is not as peaceful as it seems. Mysterious noises, earth tremors and a terrifying legend have the locals frightened.
Could there be any truth in the myth of the beast who lives in the ancient well? And if so, why would it return? Mary-Kate might be anxious, but she is not afraid to get to the bottom of this monstrous mystery.
The Wrath of the Woolington Wyrm is a charming and fun mystery that has many unusual secrets to uncover. And I loved reading every moment of it. A perfect starter for any young reader wanting to get into mysteries. I wish I had this book as a child but now I get to pass this onto someone who will love reading it as much as I did.
Mary- Kate is such a lovely and wonderfully written neurodivergent. Throughout easy to read paragraphs, Mary-Kate's fears, anxieties and various talk about disliking textures or colours lead her to use a range of coping strategies to help her overcome her fears and progress throughout the book. I found this made her quite likeable and even relatable. It will resonate with children and adults alike reading about her qualities that anyone can struggle with.
During her time in Woolington, she meets Lady Arabella and forms a wonderful friendship. A friendship that will help Mary-Kate overcome her worries and what I hope will continue for a very long time.
Arabella is quite the opposite to Mary- Kate, she is chatty and carefree. Arabella is also very excited to be working with Mary-Kate on figuring out if the Wyrm is responsible for the disappearance of the town's children, and who is really a friend or foe by using their smart wits and research to separate the facts from the fiction.
I really loved reading how Mary-Kate broke down and logically pieced together all the weird happenings around the town spanning hundreds of years. Mary- Kate is 10 years old but she feels as if she was written as an early teen which makes this book fun for all.
A wonderful book for young readers who love mysteries with fantasy elements, find themselves a little nervous like our heroine or just want to hunt monsters. The book even has little extras such a map of Woolington Well, beautiful illustrations by Freda Chu and even little quotes at the start of each chapter from P K Mayberry's Complete Guide to Monsters and give slight indication of the events to unfold.
Thank you to Pushkin Children's Press for the Review Copy. Please check out some of the other lovely bloggers who are also in the book tour!
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