Title: Spellcasters

Written by: Crystal Sung

Illustrated by: Wendy Tan

Published by: Hachette Children’s Books

Spellcasters is a beautifully written book, suitable for the early reader, 6+ age range. It touches all the senses with mouth-watering delicacies from all around the world.

There is a wide range of diverse characters but the book is written from the point of view of Jenny, who has Chinese ancestry. It is her first day at a new school and she befriends Maya, Tamzin and Ananya and they form a band called the Spellcasters. The illustrations by Wendy Tan are gorgeous and compliment the text perfectly.

I liked how each of the girls had their own perfectly described magical talisman in the form of a piece of jewellery that had been handed down through the generations. I found the ancestral magical connections fascinating. I hope to find out more about the other girls family backgrounds in subsequent books in the series.

The antagonist, Greydig, is formidable without being too scary, suitable for the age range. Greydig plays with the people’s emotions and this is expertly shown when the four girls are influenced to feel anger at each other and hopelessness.

At the heart of the book is a message of working together to save the community. The mural of the oak tree was symbolic of the environmental message the book subtly conveys of how large building projects such as shopping centres are destroying small businesses and the sense of belonging.

A brilliant book that leaves you excited to read the next in the series.

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To read my interview with Tania Tay who wrote Spellcasters under the pseudonym Crystal Sung take a look at: Special Guest Q & A with Tania Tay

You can buy a copy of Spellcasters by Crystal Sung in any good bookshop and online at uk.bookshop.org, an organisation with a mission to financially support local, independent bookshops.