By: Anna James
Genre: fiction, fantasy
Publication Date: 2020
Publisher’s Description
“Since her mother’s disappearance, eleven-year-old Tilly Pages has found comfort in the stories at Pages & Co, her grandparents’ bookshop. But when her favorite characters, Anne of Green Gables and Alice from Wonderland, start showing up at the shop, Tilly’s adventures become very real. Not only can she follow Anne and Alice into their books, she discovers she can bookwander into any story she chooses. Tilly’s new ability leads her to fun and exciting adventures, but danger may be lurking on the very next page…
When new secrets are uncovered, it’s up to Tilly to solve the mystery of what happened to her mother all those years ago. From debut author Anna James comes a charming and exciting adventure about a bookish young heroine, a mysterious librarian, and a magical bookshop that will delight book lovers everywhere.”
Our Take
This was an imaginative story that led to great discussion about our favorite stories, characters, and the possibility of bookwandering. We enjoyed hearing references to cherished books and characters throughout the story. It opened our eyes to the books that have impacted our children deeply and beckoned us to dive into those with them by taking note of their favorites to hopefully read one day.
food to share
What can I say? the feast was vast and pleasant as always!
on the menu:
- English tea sandwiches
- Pain au chocolate
- english muffins with butter and honey
- potato and leek soup
- hot chocolate
- bear claw brownies
- fresh fruit
- hot chocolate
craft
the craft this month was to have our kids make bookmarks at home; one to keep and one to share. they brought them to kid’s book club where we laminated and exchanged them with one another. now each kid has a special momento from a fellow friend and book lover.
you can find exactly how we did that here.
discussion questions
sometimes it’s hard to narrow down all the possible discussion topics, however this time we found ourselves happily lost in just a few! to hear the kids light up and take the reigns of discussion time was a real treat.
- What were Tilly’s 2 favorite book characters? What are yours?
- what would you say to your favorite book characters in real life?
- what character do you feel you have the strongest relationship with that would pop up and take you into their world?
- what books could be dangerous to bookwander into? would you still do it?
quotes
“be brave, be curious, be kind.”
“books can change minds and change worlds, open doors and open minds, and plant seeds that can grow into magical or even terrifying things. stories are things to be loved and respected at the same time; never underestimate the power of them.”
“… because stories last much longer than we do. our stories are how we will be remembered – so we’ve got to make sure they are worth telling.”