Ann Hunter

Very short e-book( less than 100 pages) about a non-speaking Autistic girl Ari, who lives in a run-down zoo with her brother and father. One night, a tiger that has been mistreated by one of the keepers escapes and goes on a rampage. Only Ari and the male silverback gorilla are able to get close enough to the tiger to try and stop its murderous onslaught. Ari through her unique ability to tune in to the animals thoughts. The book gets pretty gruesome in some parts which is why I have put it at Year 7-8 level, rather than the Grade 5-6 level it is written for...lots of blood as keepers are dragged into the bushes screaming. One for kids who like that Jurassic Park feel.."something is watching me"....… (lisätietoja)

My original A Piece of Sky audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

This was a fun little story, Children's fantasy, of the Fairytale variety.

Rós is a simple little red hen who has an adventure - quite literally - fall on her head. When "A Piece of Sky" falls out of nowhere, Rós knows something has gone amiss, so she picks it up and sets out to put things right. "Sky" a golden acorn from the Father Tree, just wants to grow, but he's not sure when or where to do it. So, with the company of her chicken friend Grania (sp?), Rós takes Sky and goes to find help.

There's some kind of strange mythos/analogy in this book, I'm not entirely sure what legends or history was being drawn on. The Father Tree is definitely a god type figure, with some correlations between it and the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil found in the book of Genesis. There is also some rather Norse mythology tied in, with Nurgal, the Lord of Decay, who is certainly a devil-like figure with some similarities to Loki.

The story is cute, and I did enjoy it, and would certainly recommend it to youngsters. The writing is good, if slightly repetitive in places. Considering the high profile adventure setting of the story, I just can't take a chicken heroine seriously enough to consider this epic fantasy, but I don't think the budding fantasy read would mind that.

The quality of the recording is good. Crystal clear.

JoBe Cerny is a good narrator, and he has quite a variety of vocal styles he uses with this book. I personally find his voice a little annoying at times, but that's mainly his delivery style, he reads this like a children's book, in that slightly condescending tone that adults use to young people. But really, his performance was excellent.

On the whole, I liked everything about this. I'm giving a higher star rating because I consider it to be a very good children's story.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author.… (lisätietoja)

If you think this is just another fantasy novel, you will be surprised by the intensity which this young author deliver in her book. The story starts as a classical tale of a princess trying to escape from an arranged marriage and ended up being captured by some robbers and fall in love with their leader. But from there on, the sequence of events is well elaborated and I guarantee will keep your attention until the last page is turned and you will be begging for more. This is a beautiful tale of love, sacrifice and friendship, that defies even death.
Even a red hen plays an important role in this story. Lovely Rós is a chicken with a mind of her own, and she calls herself a wild chicken. Very inspirational, her attitude is one of the highlights of this book.
I recommend this book to the permanent library of readers of all ages that appreciate a well written fantasy book. They will not be disappointed.
I received this book from the author for reviewing it and I was not requested to post a positive review. Opinion expressed here is my own.… (lisätietoja)