review
Even if you are a child, you cannot let others run your life; if something is really important, then you have to fight for it. That’s the message of this quietly empowering story, beautifully illustrated by Anke Kuhl.
Sara can’t wait for Wednesdays when she visits her Aunt Hulda, an ‘overweight fairy’ who lives in sheltered accommodation for ‘people with special needs’. Hulda’s simple delight in everyone and everything around her is warming and infectious; she is always positive towards others and often makes up colourful new words to describe things; and her favourite colour is pink. But Sara’s parents think their daughter is spending too much time there, and arrange for Hulda to be moved to another home – without consulting either Hulda or Sara. Desperate not to be separated from her aunt, Sara puts together a bold plan for the two of them to escape by train. Hulda simply says, ‘Let’s just go’, and their adventure finally lands them in a disused chocolate factory inhabited by artists.
Readers aged 7-11 will love this fast-paced and humorous story, with its dazzling cast of characters and richly authentic dialogue, and will relish Sara’s growing independence and acts of bravery in the face of overbearing parents.
All recommendations from Spring 2011