Book review: Mi and Museum City by Linda Sarah

Every picture tells a story… and in some books, every picture tells a dozen stories!
Mi and Museum City by Linda SarahMi and Museum City by Linda Sarah
Mi and Museum City by Linda Sarah

Phoenix Yard Books, the award-winning children’s publisher located between the wobbled, cobbled walls and wooden beams of a 17th century converted brewery near King’s Cross in London, returns with a ‘house speciality’ – something completely different.

Proud to boast that they deliver distinctive, innovative and original picture books and fiction for children ages three to 13, Phoenix Yard Books present an exciting and outrageously quirky debut picture book from the very talented Linda Sarah.

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Packed with enervating anarchy, puzzling prose, intricate illustrations, charismatic characters, a pull-out poster and, most importantly, a feast of fun, Mi and Museum City offers imaginative children a magical brand of constructive mayhem.

Mi lives in Museum City where every building, apart from Mi’s house, is a museum. Now with so many museums to visit, you would think Mi would have lots to do but he’s bored and lonely because the city is full of museums about uninteresting things and the serious people who own these uninteresting things.

One day a beautiful sound leads him to Yu, a big, tall creature, who is playing a huge one-stringed instrument and making the loveliest music he has ever heard.

They are soon best friends and together they set out to persuade the Mayor to open museums about some of the more enjoyable things in life, such as The Museum of Starlit Benches Arranged at Different Heights for Pebble-Dropping and Other Fun Things.

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It won’t be easy and there is no guarantee that they will ever succeed in revolutionising Museum City…

With its amazing pull-out A-Z poster of Museum City and a real journey of discovery on every busy, bustling, action-packed and intricately detailed page, this eccentric and enchanting book will inspire and entertain any child age five and over.

(Phoenix Yard Books, paperback, £7.99)

Age 8-12:

Kingdom of Silk: Perry Angel’s Suitcase

Glenda Millard and Stephen Michael King

And there is another wonderful journey of discovery in the third instalment of the award-winning Kingdom of Silk series from an Australian author who uses the rural communities and landscapes of her homeland as a rich source of inspiration for her tender, lyrical stories.

The extraordinary and yet, in many ways, ordinary Silk family live in Cameron’s Creek – mother, father, grandmother, five sisters and little brother Griffin Silk – and their lives and adventures explore all-important themes of love, family, home and relationships.

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Millard’s beautiful, gentle stories, brought to life by Stephen Michael King’s whimsical illustrations, have won handfuls of awards in Australia and it’s easy to see why. Their simplicity, warmth and charm speak volumes about sharing, caring, self-discovery and the importance of family and belonging.

It has taken Perry Angel almost seven years to find the place where he belongs. He arrives in the Kingdom of Silk one day on the ten-thirty express, carrying only a small and shabby suitcase embossed with five golden letters.

What do those letters mean and why won’t Perry let go of his case? Perry is a foster child, and he never expects to stay in one place for any length of time. But the extraordinary Silk family are quite determined that they have enough room, and love, for one more person.

And it turns out there could be no better place for Perry Angel than with Griffin Silk, his family and his best friend, Layla.

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Following on from the success of The Naming of Tishkin Silk and Layla Queen of Hearts, Millard’s new mini-novel wraps up the same winning blend of love and adventure in a rich and enthralling package.

A wonderfully imagined series…

Both books are published on February 6.

(Phoenix Yard Books, paperback, £5.99)