Penny & Luck – The Shadows of Rosehall by Claire Karwowski & Siân Roberts – The Strawberry Post

A book review of a fun children’s middle grade fantasy about a girl who loves inventing and one day takes her dog for a walk and come across a strange green bush that transports her to a very different world.

About Penny & Luck: The Shadows of Rosehall

Title: Penny & Luck: The Shadows of Rosehall
Author: Claire Karwowski
Illustrator: Siân Roberts
Publisher: DK flip
Genre: Older children’s/middle grade fiction, Fantasy
Book format reviewed: Digital
Sweet Strawberries:

Description:  Penny Jones and her corgi Luck are ready for adventure!  Penny loves inventing and she’s spent all summer planning the most EPIC beach battle for her and her brothers.
But everything changes when the mysterious Mean Green whisks Penny and Luck into an enchanting forest full of magic and mischief.  There they meet Daya, Princess of Rosehall, who’s on a daring quest to save her kingdom…
With all hope resting on Penny, can she use her inventing skill to help Daya AND find a way back home?
In this world of magic anything is possible…

*Free copy provided by pulisher and NetGalley for review…

My review and thoughts on Penny & Luck: The Shadows of Rosehall

This is a very fun fantasy adventure.  Nine year old Penny Jones is looking forward to the last day of the school holidays as it’s the day her three brothers have promised to spend time with her on her Invention Quest, a day when they all have fun checking out and playing with Penny’s latest inventions.  But the boys haven’t done the reading they were supposed to do over the school holidays so Penny is left by herself for the day.  Taking her corgi dog Luck for a walk she soon come across the Mean Green, a strange bush that Luck can’t help but run into.  Chasing after him Penny soon stumbles into another world, a place in a strange and scary forest.

I like what happens in this story as Penny and Luck soon come across a girl called Daya who is on her own quest to save her kingdom and what happens as they travel through the Cursed Forest.  The story is interesting and exciting throughout.  I love the characters of Penny and Luck as well as Milo who we meet later in the story.  I also love just how creative this story is with things like the magical bike called ‘Rider’ and what happens when we learn more about the Shadows.  The story has some great artwork on pages throughout the book which are all in black, white and grey and all very fun to see.  The pictures add to the story, I especially like the way Luck looks, and I like how every chapter has a page of art before the writing and the additional images at the back of the book too.

The tale builds up to a great ending which finishes well but also leaves you with questions about Penny’s family which will, I’m sure, be explored more in future books.  At the end of the book there is also more on Penny’s various inventions, some real life inventors and other scientists, and some basic science like about clouds or gravity which all form parts of Penny’s notebook and looks like a handwritten and drawn notebook. I love this addition as it can help kids learn a few things without feeling boring.

Overall this is an amazing and fun fantasy adventure and a great first book in a series I hope I get to read more of.  The story is so creative and interesting and at the same time it keeps you guessing as to what will happen next and I just love how Penny’s inventing mind comes up with the perfect solution to the problems happening in the Cursed Forest.  A great middle grade read. 🙂

Other middle grade books about visiting magical worlds

-Read review – Fiona and the Forgotten Piano by Kate DeMaio
-Read review – The Shrinking of Grin by J. Edwin Skinner
-Read review – Buddy the Knight and the Queen of Sorrow by Peter David
-Read review – Lost in Time by Dawn Treacher
-Read review – Amir and the Jinn Princess by M. T. Khan
-Read review – Nura and the Immortal Palace by M. T. Khan

What do you think of this book?  If you could go into any world through a magical portal where would you want to go?  Let me know what you think in the comments below 🙂