One of several bloggers (for the full list see the Tour Schedule below) to be participating in the Blog Tour of Millie Kerr's The Adventures Of Ellie & Boo.
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| ISBN 978-1913208585 |
A nature-loving cat and her conservationist mum team up to save endangered species!
Boo the tabby cat is born on a Lincolnshire farm and seems destined for a simple life. Everything changes when she’s put up for adoption and is taken in by Ellie Caldwell, an adventurous Cambridge graduate student who loves animals and is studying to become a wildlife conservationist.
Between lectures, Ellie heads to the countryside for camping trips, her Instagram-anointed ‘adventure cat’ in tow. On rocky trails, Boo discovers that, like Ellie, she has a passion for the natural world, and because she’s able to communicate with all animals, she can relate their challenges back to Ellie. But there’s a serious problem: whenever Boo tries to tell Ellie something, all Ellie hears is “Meow.”
Can they work out a communication system, and in doing so, save endangered animals from harm while encouraging public support of nature and wildlife? ... SYNOPSIS
The rucksack bounced and jingled as Ellie snaked up the mossy path. ... FIRST SENTENCE (Prologue)
"Are we gonna rally or what?" shouted a hedgehog sitting beside a nearby shrub. "We've gotta do something."
Animals began chattering away. The strained facial expressions made their anxiety clear.
"We are! Boo shouted over the murmuring crowd. She felt a wave of strength come over her. "We'll storm Parliament if we have to!" ... MEMORABLE MOMENT (Page 84)
MY THOUGHTS ... Well! Such a great way to begin a dialogue about conservation and in particular the culling of badgers here in the UK; between them Ellie & Boo (to say nothing of the other animals passionate about the cause) make a great team.
I really wanted to enjoy the adventures of this somewhat unlikely pair and in so many ways I did; I applauded the whole premise of an unlikely assortment coming together to fight for something they so deeply believed in, I loved that in Boo (the feline half of the duo) children might relate to the struggle he had getting adults to not just listen but actually hear what he was saying ... and, it goes without saying, that I, but of course, adored the hedgehog who, from what little we saw of him/her, appeared to have a personality every bit as prickly as his/her spines, however ...
I love animals (cats and, yes, hedgehogs in particular) and I don't mind them being humanised. Or at least I didn't think I did.
That Ellie and Boo can communicate, I can cope with that. Badgers with mobile phones and social media accounts. Hmm! It would seem that for me anyway anthropomorphic novels can be too anthropomorphic.
Aimed at children aged eight to twelve year olds, As I said I can understand children relating to Boo but I was a bit surprised by the character that was Ellie.
A post graduate student studying for a Masters degree at Cambridge University, a lover of Instagram, someone who worried Boo when she wasn't home by midnight nor one nor two o'clock. Hmm! OK, so I wasn't expecting such an adult protagonist in a book for children of this age but hey-ho, I suppose, there was always Ellie's love of animals that they could relate to.
Then there was mention of Brexit.
I get it, I truly do; generally speaking children today are way more politically savy (and at a younger age) than my generation was BUT Brexit, really? I must admit I wasn't expecting mention of Brexit in any way, shape or form in a book marketed at this age group.
A great length though, long enough to be detailed and yet not so long that younger readers will get bored.
SUMMED UP IN A SENTENCE ... An admirable premise, its message of conservation a worthy one.
INFORMATION ABOUT THE BOOK ... ~ Target Age: Children/MG (targets 8-12-year-olds) ~ Genre: Adventure, Animal, Environmental Conservation ~ Publication Date: 28th July 2020 ~ Publisher: Book Guild, Ltd ~ Standalone Novel ~ Potential Content Warning: badger culling, but nothing graphic is ever said/happens (i.e. no animals die in the book) ~ Estimated Page Count: 82 ~ Purchase Link: Amazon.Co.Uk
ABOUT MILLIE KERR ...
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Millie Kerr is an author, journalist and photographer focused on wildlife conservation. A former lawyer, Millie uses storytelling to help people see splendour and fragility of the natural world. Her creative essays and reported articles—which predominantly involve travel and wildlife—have appeared in dozens of top-tier American and British publications, among them The Economist, National Geographic Traveller, Popular Science, and The Wall Street Journal. Millie has also worked for numerous global conservation NGOs, both as an in-house writer and an external consultant; and her legal career saw her working in private practice and government. She graduated from the University of Cambridge with a Masters of Philosophy in Conservation Leadership and has lived between the UK and USA for fifteen years. Her adopted cat, Baboon, has been her constant companion, although unlike their fictitious counterparts, they only enjoy indoor adventures.
FOLLOW MILLIE KERR ... ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Instagram ~
BOOK TOUR SCHEDULE ... ~ 8th September: Yeah Lifestyle ~ sharon beyond the books ~ Splashes Into Books ~ 9th September: Dash Fan Book Reviews ~ @a_girl_who_loves_to_read ~ Cat and Mouse Reading ~ 10th September: Jane Hunt Writer ~ just_a_girl_who_loves_to_read ~ Love the Smell of a Book ~ 11th September: I Love Reading ~ karenandherbooks ~ eBook Addicts ~ 12th September: Rajiv's Reviews ~ Scope for Imagination ~ Curled up with a good book ~ 13th September: Books and Bookends ~ donnasbookblog ~ Tangents and Tissues ~ 14th September: the_book_reviewing_mum ~ Felicity Grace Terry ~ Gina Rae Mitchell ~
9 comments:
Well..... I'm not sure about this one. I'm sure it has its good points and I'm all for certain agendas, but I'd have to read it myself to know for sure. Although I rarely ever hunt anymore, I do believe there are reasons for human intervention and management of certain species. And I totally get what you said about a novel being too anthropomorphic.
I honestly can't imagine any reason politics should be mentioned in a book for this age range.
Sounds like a cutie type read, I love wee cat adventures. xxx
Lainy http://www.alwaysreading.net
Well, if there was a hedgehog in the opening scene, it had to be good! I like stories about nature conservancy.
Felicity,
The unlikely duo of Ellie and
Boo and their passion about
nature conservation and the
the premise of the book sound
interesting.
But as you said that the book
is too anthropomorphic, this
made me uncertain about it.
Raven
Hi Felicity,
I don't tend to read many YA or children's books, so I'm not sure that I should pass comment about it too much and as it is slightly too old for the age group of my five year old great nephew, I can't get his opinion about it either.
Having seen 12 year olds interviewed on various news programmes, I feel sure that most of them would have some inkling about Brexit as well as conservation issues.
I'm sure the concept of the book is an admirable one, but it does sound as though some of the messaging is a bit mixed and muddled.
I love your style of reviewing and always enjoy stopping by :)
Yvonne xx
This sounds cute and the message it sends is relevant. Thanks for sharing.
It's surprising to have the Brexit in this one, I agree
I can't imagine Brexit appealing to this age group. The front cover looks good though.
This sounds adorable but with a few issues. Brexit? lol
Karen @ For What It's Worth
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