Books of Elsewhere = YES.

I am so pleased to say that I need to go shopping.  It's time to add a new old-fashioned children's novel to my collection; the first in the Books of Elsewhere series by Jacqueline West, The Shadows.  Who hasn't wondered what it would be like to travel inside a painting? 

illustrated by Poly Bernatene

I don't like to write reviews; I'm not about to pretend I can go on and on about people's craft.  I'll just say that the book has a great premise and is very well written - meaning even a critic like me forgot all about the writing and just wanted to know what happened next.  

via Dibupoly

This review excerpt by the Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books will do better justice:

"The atmospheric old house is a new home for eleven-year-old Olive, and though she finds it fascinating, with its colorful contents that include a collection of arresting paintings, she also finds it creepy. Her instincts prove to be accurate: the vivid paintings are actually portals into other realms, accessible to her if she’s wearing the spectacles found in the house. Advised, albeit cryptically, by Horatio, a talking cat secretly still resident in the house, Olive dabbles in exploration of those realms, but she also unwittingly comes ever closer to enabling the evil trapped inside the house to break free. West creates a delightful concoction of quirky humor blended with a rumbling ominous undertone (“This house belongs to someone else,” Horatio warns Olive, “And that someone may not want you here”); venerable fantasy tropes such as talking cats, animated paintings, the sinister and secret old house, and conveniently distracted parents parade out in enduring and endearing form. ..."

If you or your students liked Neil Gaiman's Coraline or in general like slightly scary classic middle grade, go for it.  The characters are delightful and the talking cats - oh, the talking cats are awesome, just exactly how talking cats would sound and act.  Check out the link above to the Amazon page for more plot info and reviews, or my previous post for the trailer, and enjoy! 

via Upstart Crow Literary