The Strangeworlds Travel Agency by LD Lapinski

Felicity has moved to Little Wyverns. Her parents are busy with work and care of her younger brother. Once all the unpacking is completed Felicity (Flick) is able to set off alone to explore the village. She is strangely drawn to one shop:

"a tiny, squashed-looking shop with a big bay window. It had a shiny black door and a corner porch with a stone step so worn it appeared to be melting into the pavement. Flick looked up at the sign. The Strangeworlds Travel Agency."

Inside this shop is very strange. No computers or busy staff instead she finds old dusty furniture, shelves of books and piles of old suitcases. There are clocks on the wall all ticking and running at different speeds. As she looks around, feeling that this odd place is slightly familiar, a young man comes through the doorway from the back of the shop. This is eighteen year old Jonathan Mercator - he is the owner of the shop even though he does not seem old enough. His official job title is Head Custodian.

Flick picks up a piece of glass from the floor of the shop and she holds it to her eye. The world outside the shop shimmers and she sees something very strange. To her eyes it looks like a crack but Jonathan knows it is actually a schism (a gateway to another world) and it seems Flick can see magic.  This means she can, should, and must join the Strangeworlds Society and more importantly she can help Jonathan find his lost father. The suitcases are portals to other worlds and they sound exciting but perhaps there are things Jonathan has not told Flick.

"You could travel to places you could never have imagined, see worlds on the edge of the multiverse. You could watch blue suns rise over mountains of red glass, see flowers the size of houses, hear the crunch of the ground as dragons hatch from hidden caverns, and feel the heat in the emptiness of space as a ship cruises close to a dying star."

Stories that take you to magical lands need a portal. In The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe the portal was the wardrobe which was full of winter fur coats. In The Strange Worlds travel agency suitcases are used as portals to all the different worlds.  The worlds themselves feel at times a little like the places you may have visited in The Phantom Tollbooth but they are perhaps not quite so quirky. These strange worlds feel dangerous and there is an urgency to discover why things are disintegrating.

I enjoyed meeting Flick. She is a girl who is brave and intuitive especially when she is captured by Glean who has plans to use Jonathan's suitcase for her own evil ends.

This is the first book in a series but fortunately, although there are many unanswered questions, this first installment does have a satisfying conclusion.

This is the first book by LD Lapinski. It is due for publication in May, 2020. Reviewers are listing this book for 9+ but I think it might have more appeal to an older group of 10+.  The 376 pages will require some reading stamina especially when the driving conflict (good and evil) is not explored until chapter 21. Thank you to Beachside Bookshop for my advance reader copy.

The Suitcase by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros

"A strange animal arrived one day looking dusty, tired, sad 

and frightened. 

He was pulling a big suitcase."

Stop and think about these opening lines. Why is he sad? What has happened to make him frightened? This suitcase is big - what could be inside? It is so heavy he has to drag it. The image above is from the title page. You can feel the weight from this illustration.

Now watch the Nosy Crow trailer and a video where Chris Naylor-Ballesteros talks about The Suitcase.

The strange animal meets a fox, rabbit and bird. The group are curious and ask about the contents of the suitcase. The list of contents sound utterly impossible. A teacup, a table, a chair, a kitchen and even a wooden cabin. The strange animal is exhausted and he falls asleep. The fox decides they should open the suitcase so they can discover the truth.

"Meanwhile the sleeping stranger dreamed about running away and hiding, about climbing over mountains and swimming across deep waters. And he dreamed about his suitcase and all that he had inside it."

When the suitcase is opened I gasped. What the fox has done is so dreadful. It's a violation but what happens next will warm your heart and, I know this sounds very deep but, I think the final scenes will give your young reader a sense of hope for humanity.

This is my favourite type of picture book where a seemingly simple narrative is a disguise for a deeper message but it is all done with a light touch there is no feeling that the author had an agenda or a message or an 'axe to grind' or a moral to impart. You might remember I talked about Almost Anything by Sophy Henn recently. It has a very different theme but I think it demonstrates this idea of that old adage "show don't tell."

This is in every way a five star book.

Here are some review comments:

The message here is powerful and profound and beautifully served by the simplicity of the telling. Love Reading4Kids

What better book could there be to share with a nursery or foundation stage class during refugee week than this one, offering as it does, hope and the possibility of new friendship. Red Reading Hub

I would bet that many folk would come away from this book with various different levels of interpretation of the core powerful message of being kind, and treating strangers a little better - but wow, this is so subtly and cleverly done. Read it Daddy

I would link The Suitcase with The Thing by Simon Puttock and Shelter by Celine Claire.  You could also look at Welcome by Barroux and Room on our Rock by Kate and Jol Temple.

In this video you can see Chris creating his characters. I loved hearing Chris says "Picture books are for everyone!"

Here are two other books by Chris. You can read the long journey that it took to make I'm going to eat this Ant on his blog.

Just right for Two by Tracey Corderoy illustrated Rosalind Beardshaw

About a week ago I was sitting in a small public library in London browsing their picture books when I saw Just right for Two. 

Dog has a big, blue suitcase and it contains so many special things such as a really good stick, some dancing leaves and a big, red shiny button. "I have everything I need!"  Or does he? Mouse arrives. He is curious about the contents of the suitcase. Then Mouse suggests the pair enjoy a game of hide and seek.  That evening, after Mouse leaves, Dog looks in his suitcase and it seems something is missing.  This book would be absolutely perfect to share with a young child. It is a truly comforting story.

A combination of collage, gouache and crayon creates lovely and serene forest scenes in which individual personalities can balance each other in mutual camaraderie. The friendship theme—reminiscent of Frog and Toad or Ernest and Celestine—is quietly subtle and touching, with just the right amount of charm.  Kirkus

I would follow this book with Pig and Small, Lost and Found and Herman's Letter.  You could also link this book with our CBCA 2018 slogan "Find your Treasure."  Here is a video reading of the whole book.