The Secret of Platform 13 - Eva Ibbotson

Once upon a time, a very long time ago (or about 10 years ago), The Secret of Platform 13 was released. A classic fantasy tale, the story revolves around five main characters: Cor, a wizard, Gurkie, a fey, Hans, an ogre, Odge, a hag, and Ben, your average human. The first four of these come from an Island, through a “gump,” a hole which opens every 9 years for exactly 9 days. Let’s start from the beginning, shall we? When the King and Queen of the Island have a baby, they are crazy about it. But once the gump opens, the nannies take the young Prince up to the “outside world” of London and (gulp…) he is kidnapped by Larina ...  Read the complete review

Exactly once every nine years, for exactly nine days only, the Gump on platform thirteen at King's Cross Station in London opens to reveal a door to a magical world. As well as normal people, and the kind of idyllic King and Queen we perhaps dream of, this island is filled with all the usual mythical monsters you'd expect to find in the likes of Harry Potter and Artemis Fowl. Additionally there is the presence of the semi-original dreamlike Mistmakers, a half-sealion-half-dog-like creature which, whenever it hears music, begins to sigh and creates a mist to shelter the magical preserved place from the prying eyes of "The World Above". ...  Read the complete review

Do you know what a ‘gump’ is? No, well let me tell you. A gump is a magical portal that will instantly take you to another world. This is considered a children’s story but it’s absolutely charming and if you’ve read Harry Potter and enjoyed it then you’ll love this as well! I buy books for my son through his school, they send home booklets from a company called “Scholastic Books” and the books are sold with significant discounts which is a boon if, like me, your child is an avid reader. Now before you all scream at me that this isn’t available in England don’t worry, I checked around to ...  Read the complete review