‘Electrifying, exciting, entertaining and endearing, this melding of Norse mythology with the Celtic culture of Wales is a modern-day myth of its very own.’
Title: Storm Hound
Author: Claire Fayers (@ClaireFayers)
Illustrator: Becka Moor (@BeckaMoor)
Publisher: Macmillan (@MacmillanKidsUK)
Page count: 256
Date of publication: 21st February 2019
Series status: N/A
ISBN: 978-1509895045
Perfect for Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6.
#3Words3Emojis:
1. Storm 🌩️
2. Odin 🛡️
3. Hilarious 😁
Storm of Odin is the youngest stormhound of the Wild Hunt that haunts lightning-filled skies. He has longed for the time when he will be able to join his brothers and sisters but on his very first hunt he finds he can’t keep up and falls to earth, landing on the A40 just outside Abergavenny.
Enter twelve-year-old Jessica Price, who finds and adopts a cute puppy from an animal rescue centre. And suddenly, a number of strange people seem very interested in her and her new pet, Storm. People who seem to know a lot about magic…
Review:
As proud hound Storm of Odin leaps through the raging storm clouds as he joins in with The Wild Hunt, his first experience of this becomes rather short-lived as he crashes to Earth falling from the sky and finding himself face-to-face with a herdful of sheep in the wonderful world of Wales, which is as unexpected to him as the sheep that greet him; open-eyed and open-mouthed. It is within this early glimpse of Storm’s ever-so-slightly cheeky character that seemingly sets the scene for this warmhearted, magical and mythological story and things to come…
Lucky for him he is not left out in the wilderness for long as he becomes acquainted with new owner Jessie – a girl whose own heart doesn’t lie in Abergavenny either, after her parents’ separation and her own relocation to this new land. Thinking that a new dog will ease the pain, Jessie’s dad takes her to a rescue centre where she has the pick of the bunch. Jessie’s brother Ben wants the white dog but there’s something about Storm of Odin that catches her eye and she takes him under their wing and touchingly, she names him Storm.
As Storm starts to encounter many moments from our world, it is the most normal of events that become the most amusing: the meetings with the vet, the postman and the cat to name just a few! The observations and wit in Claire’s writing of these pooch-perspectives to show the mild madness in what most of us would consider to be the mundane and that the world according to dogs is a very different one to what we might perceive is comedy genius.
But wait! Action and adventure are soon abound in this tale as the pair are thrust together to navigate the danger that threatens to take over in the form of three mysterious wizards who are tracing a sign and who are searching for the position of this pup. With Jessie’s help, can Storm stay out of sight for long?
I can see this story going down a storm with readers because of its effervescent and charming main character; a supporting storyline that is as touching as it is triumphant and an author who respects the mythology that she mixes in but who too adds a sense of magic that makes this a modern-day myth of its very own.
The Invisible College
More than twenty sheep were grazing quietly when a silver car purred to a halt at the side of Ross Road just by the sign that said: Abergavenny 5.
Three men got out. They all looked quite identical – to a sheep, anyway. The first was tall and thin with grey hair the texture of wool caught in a bush. He stood gazing up and down the road, his hands in his pockets. One of his companions unfolded a map and laid it on the car bonnet. The third man produced a pair of metal sticks and began pacing up and down the grass slope by the road.
Several sheep strayed surreptitiously closer. The gentleman with the sticks paused mid-stride.
‘I don’t like the way the sheep are looking at us, Professor Utterby,’ he said. ‘They’re up to something.’
This is how we meet Professors Utterby, Nuffield and Ryston, the last three members of the Invisible College, a secret institution devoted to the dark arts.
I made up a lot of things in Storm Hound, but the Invisble College wasn’t one of them. It really existed – though it had nothing to do with the dark arts.
The college existed as an idea rather than a physical place. References to it date back to the 17th century, in particular by the chemist Robert Boyle. (It’s no accident that I made Professor Utterby a chemist). Little is known about it, but it appears to have been an informal group of like-minded thinkers who would meet to share knowledge and exchange ideas. The group split between London and Oxford, and in 1660 the group petitioned the King for formal status and the Invisble College became the Royal Society.
The notion of the Invisble College crops up in various guises, especially nowadays when online learning can take the place of buildings. In fiction, Pratchett had his Unseen University, of course. And BBC Radio 4 has an interested set of podcasts on creative writing called The Invisible College.
The link is here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p053dm4v
I like to think that, after the creation of the Royal Society, a breakaway group of philosophers and magicians continued to meet in secret, delving further into the world of magic. The Invisible College has continued to this day, its numbers dwindling as magic faded, until only the three professors are left. But now, magic has returned to the world in the form of a fallen stormhound, and the three professors are ready to make themselves great again. Will they succeed? You’ll have to read the book to find out!
Big thanks to Claire, Karen and all at Macmillan for inviting me to take part in the Storm Hound blog tour and sending me a proof copy.
Extra thanks to Claire for writing her guest post!
Mr E
Be sure to check out the rest of the Storm Hound blog tour for exclusive guest posts, reviews and giveaways!
Plenty of giggles and lots of fun were to be had in Huw Aaron’s comic workshop even before the comic making(!) as children and adults took part in a pre-comic workout.
Reading from Gaslight, I particularly liked the way Eloise encouraged the audience to read along one line at a time by splitting the first chapter in to single lines or phrases for them to read along with her.
Rachel started her workshop by getting everyone talking as they had to introduce each other.
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