Reviews

THE TRAVELLER

FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS, "Great Story". Verified Purchase.

"The Traveller" is a story of a young man from New Zealand who comes to visit his great grandmother, whom he has never met, living in a residential care home in Britain. While biking on his way there he gets struck by a speeding car, and before help can arrive, a beautiful red-haired girl helps him. When he later asks about who she was, he realizes that no one else saw her and is extremely puzzled.

I can't tell much more without giving it away, but I would like to read on more about these characters, perhaps with a continuation of the story as a sequel. One of my favorite parts was Victoria looking at herself in the wheelchair, and how both she and the reader come to realize what has happened. I was drawn into the world of these characters and enjoyed how fluidly the story moved among them and integrated the different events. A great story!

FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS: review by Northern Lights

Sympathetic characters, good plot line, with an interesting twist at the end. Human interest was well maintained throughout and there were several surprises. I enjoyed this story and was sorry to finish it - Esma Race does it again!

THE MAGIC WORLD OF BRACKEN LEA

5.0 out of 5 stars "Great short stories" 30 Oct 2013

By Val - on Amazon.co.uk

Format:Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

A great collection of short stories, will capture a child's imagination whether the book is read to them or they read it themselves.The language which the author uses will extend the child's vocabulary and ultimately improve the child's writing level at school.The illustrations are just enough to extend the child from a purely picture book to a more advanced book maybe with no pictures.Loved the characters and their names! The adventures were believable.

4.0 out of 5 stars "Good Reading!" 12 Jun 2014

By LAS Reviewer - Published on Amazon.com

Format:Kindle Edition

Most people don’t notice magic even if it’s happening right under their noses. Are you one of them?

It’s difficult to discuss just one story because they’re all so closely connected to each other, but one of the most interesting ones in The Magic World of Bracken Lea is “The Unicorn and the Wand.” In it Glodwyn the Gnome and Celandine (a Flower Fairy) search for a unicorn so they can replace something that their queen has lost. The witty dialogue and clever ending made me want to read it again.

Speaking of Celandine, she was my favorite character in this collection. Her sweet, kind personality meshed nicely with Glodwyn’s tendency to act before he thinks. It was especially interesting to see the difference between how each of them reacts to trouble in their woodland home.

It took me a while to figure out the most appropriate age recommendation for this book, and it is a flexible one. I was a little surprised by how often the human characters find themselves in danger in these woods. While the fairies and other creatures are helpful, some of the scenarios might be a little scary for the preschoolers that would otherwise be the perfect age for this collection.

The page count includes illustrations as well as the text. The drawings themselves are simple, rustic, and beautiful. I often found myself paying just as much attention to them as I did to the tales themselves because they so accurately captured what was going on in the plot.

Read these tales in order until you’re familiar with its cast of characters. The first one introduces the reader to Bracken Lea, and the rest regularly revisit faeries and other creatures that originally popped up earlier on in this collection.

Discovering The Magic World of Bracken Lea was a treat. This is a fun choice for anyone looking for something magical to add to story time.

originally posted at long and short reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars "A great book" 30 May 2014

By H. Rusinoff - Published on Amazon.com

Format:Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

The Magic World of Bracken Lea is a great book that will appeal to both children and grownups alike. It is beautifully illustrated, with every chapter containing an image of one of the characters or events in the story. (The cover of the book shows the main hero of Bracken Lea - Glodwyn the Gnome.)

Every chapter is a story set in the magic world of Bracken Lea Wood, a small forest bordered by the local car park. There are many characters such as fairies, gnomes, and leprechauns, and they interact with humans, even though people are unaware of their presence and can't see them. One of my favorite stories was about the rescue of a Leprechaun who had accidentally traveled from Ireland to England on a lorry. The stories are charming and funny, and will appeal to children as well as adult readers for their subtle humor, beauty, and sense of mystery and magic. The book also shows the importance of preserving the natural habitat, the home of the forest folk, who are portrayed as kind and helpful to the forest, other creatures, and humans.

I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it!

Official Review: The Magic World of Bracken Lea

Post Number:#1 by amansmith » 29 May 2014, 09:37

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Magic World of Bracken Lea" by Esma Race.]

The Magic World of Bracken Lea is an adorable set of ten (10) short stories written by Esma Race and illustrated by Veronica Castle.

I will admit that at first I was skeptical because this is not usually the type of book that I would read, but after two (2) stories I was hooked. The Magic World of Bracken Lea follows the lives of the woodland creatures that live in Bracken Lea Wood located in England. Each story involves a gnome, named Glodwyn, who is constantly in trouble. However, regardless of how much trouble he gets into Glodwyn, along with his best friend Celandine, a flower fairy, is always there to help save the day.

Personally, I believe that this book would be an excellent read for younger children. I feel like they would enjoy reading about the gnomes, fairies, nymphs, ect. and to top it off there wasn’t a lot of advanced vocabulary that would confuse them. That being said, I think I would be completely comfortable recommending this book for readers of all ages because even adults need some time to connect with their imagination and get back into the world of gnomes and fairies.

Overall, I really enjoyed these stories and I would definitely read something else written by Esma Race. My favorite thing about reading these stories is the sense of togetherness that the woodland creatures have. No matter what their differences are they are always able to come together and listen to each other’s ideas. It is this ability of listening to one another that allows the creatures to hear ideas from the unlikeliest of sources, Glodwyn the proclaimed trouble maker. After reading the stories I discovered that though he may be a troublemaker Glodwyn always has the best of intentions and like all of the woodland creatures he will help anyone in need.

If there was anything that I would change about the book it would be the placement of the illustrations. I feel like some of them were out of place and showed up earlier than they should have.

I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. I rated this book a 3 because I enjoyed reading the stories that Esma Race created and I thought they were original. I cannot remember reading anything like the tales about Glodwyn anywhere else and I enjoyed that originality. I was unable to give this book a 4 because I was slightly confused about what was going on in the first story. It wasn’t until the second story that I started to understand who the woodland creatures were and what part they played in Bracken Lea Wood.