The Monster In The Lake: mermaids, magic and handsome librarians… what more could I need?

“Kit is a wizard. The youngest wizard in the world, in fact. But her magic keeps going wrong, and all kinds of weird stuff has started happening – exploding fireballs, animals talking when they shouldn’t be, and a very strange new arrival in a nearby park. So Kit and her two best friends – along with their local librarian – set off to investigate, and to save the world… again.”

Having read Louie Stowell’s first book ‘The Dragon in the Library‘ I knew I needed to read this as soon as I spotted it in Waterstones. I won’t lie, I got SO excited when I saw it on the trolley that I had to pick it up and then I excitedly went over to talk to the booksellers about how glad I was they had copies in! 

Monster (we’ll call it this for ease!) follows the story of Kit, a young magician who is still learning all about her magic, and the adventures she gets up to when she has to help when magic starts to go awry. It all starts when her practising of magic goes completely wrong (but others write this off as her being new to the whole thing, but she knows) and then animals start to talk. With the help of her friends, her mentor and a rather dashing mobile library magician, Kit helps to save the day! 

Just like Dragon, I thought this was such a brilliantly fun book. The plot is brilliant. Which kid doesn’t want to learn about mean mermaids, a monster who is in the wrong lake and a bunch of children who all have their own talents? This books is jam packed with some of the best characters around. Kit and her friends are a great mix. Plus, there’s a dragon that they have to keep asleep by going down to read tales to. And a magical library. 

Everything about this book appealed to me. 

Add all of these wonderful story telling things to a book which is SO BEAUTIFULLY illustrated by Davide Ortu and you’ve got a book that is as visually appealing as it is with its words. The illustrations add so much to the book that I often find myself just looking at them to learn more! 

This book is jam packed with nods to the importance of books and stories too… I mean what’s not to love?! 

This is going to be a perfect read for Year 3s. It’s got the perfect mix of illustration, plot and message to grip them! Plus its part of a series… who doesn’t love a series? (I know I can’t wait for the next book in the series… bring on September!) 

My Goodreads review:

S x 

p.s. Just here to say I think Duncan is wonderful *heart eyes*