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A Finder's Magic (2009)

by Philippa Pearce(Favorite Author)

3.17 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0763640727 (ISBN13: 9780763640729)

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

Candlewick Press

review 1: This is a somewhat unusual little book. It is a very quick read and noteworthy for being the last book written by the respected British author, Philippa Pearce. Also of note is the fact that it was illustrated by her daughter's mother-in-law, Helen Craig, best known for illustrating the "Angelina Ballerina" books. Both grannies created the work with their mutual grandsons in mind, and, in fact, the main character's name is derived from an anagram of the grandsons' two names. After Ms. Pearce had completed the text, she passed away, never having seen the illustrations that so complement her work. The plot of the book recounts the search by Till, the protagonist, for his missing dog, Bess. He is aided by a strange little man who calls himself "a Finder".(It is quietly amusin... moreg that later in the book, his name is misunderstood to be 'Mr. Affeinder'.) Finder has some magical abilities, such as being able to indirectly communicate with animals. After they narrow the search to a meadow where Till and his dog customarily walked, they enlist the help of two elderly women who live there, Miss Gammer and Miss Mousy. Every problem is tied up in a satisfying way by the end of the book. It is a simple story that may appeal to early elementary age children.
review 2: When a boy loses his dog in a meadow, a magical quest is the result when a strange old man calling himself a 'Finder' shows up to comfort the boy. Together the old man and the young boy will use 'magic' to discover just what happened to the dog. The magic includes using one of the muddy toys belonging to the dog. The Finder allegedly embeds a message within the toy and when it is thrown at various animals, the finder can 'hear' from the animals in question. (Another example, the boy shoves the muddy toy down into a mole hole and waits for the mole's response.) Not learning much from the birds, only learning the slightest from the mole, they seek a cat--a former familiar from a witch--for further clues. This leads to a riddle of sorts. But it is when they seek information from human witnesses that things begin to move along.For me, this one was a dull book. I wanted to like this book. I just couldn't make myself feel it. The book is the last one written by Philippa Pearce. And the book was written for two of her grandchildren. It is even illustrated by her grandkids' other grandmother, Helen Craig. It was a heart-felt project, inspired by love. And I wanted to connect with it. It just didn't happen. I do think that others might like it more than I did. less

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